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Si 




Glass. 
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njmJruj^AM. 



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OBSERVATIONS 



UPON THE 



GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE AND USE 

OF THE 

UMBUNDU 

OR THE 

LANGUAGE OF THE INHABITANTS OF 
BAILUNDU AND BIHE, 

And other Countries of West Central Africa. 



By REV. WESLEY M. STOVER, 

Missionary of the A. B. C. F. M. 

1885. 



TLav55 

Copy3 



TODD, PRINTER, 1 SOMERSET ST., BOSTON* 



13 






CONTENTS. 



SECTIONS. 

PART I. ORTHOGRAPHY 1-28 



D 



A. Alphabet 1 

Number of letters ....... 1 

Vowels 2-7 

Character of 2 

Classes of 3 

Diphthongs 4 

Nasals 5 

Quantity of ...... 6 

Quality of 7 

Consonants ....... 8-15 

Character of 8-12 

Classes of ...... . 13-14 

Diphthongs 15 

B. Combination of Letters .... 16-18 

Syllables 16-17 

Words 18 

C. Contiguous Vowels . . . . . 19-22 

Contraction 19-20 

Elision 21 

Dropping ....... 22 

D. Vowel Harmony ....... 23 

E. Consonantal Succession .... 24-26 

Double 24 

Nasal and consonant ... . . . 25-26 

F. Consonantal Harmony .... 27-28 



IV UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

SECTIONS. 

PART II. ETYMOLOGY 29-137 

A. Inflection of Nouns 29-44 

General Remarks . . " . . . . 29-30 

Substantive Preformatives .... 31 

Gender 32 

Number . 33 

Derivative Prefixes . . . . . 34-35 

Basis of Classification . . . . . 36-37 

Demonstrative o 38 

Meaning and Numerical Correspondence of 

Preformatives 39 

Table of Nouns 40 

Explanation of forms 41 

Relation of present to ancient forms . . 42 

Case forms 43~44 

B. Inflection of Adjectives, etc. . . . 45-54 

Pronominal Prefixes 45-46 

Attributive inflection defined ... 47 
Pronominal Prefix, how found ... 48 
List of Substantive-preformatives with Cor- 
responding Prefixes 49 

Explanation of forms 50 

Relation of Pronominal Prefixes to ancient . 51 

Table of Nouns and Attributes ... 52 

General Remarks on Attributes . . . 53~54 

C. Comparison of Adjectives .... 55-56 

D. Derivation of Nouns 57~6o 

General Remarks 57 

Nouns from Verbs 58 

Nouns from Nouns 59 

Compounds 60 

E. Numerals 61-65 

Classification of 61 

Names of 62 

Agreement of Units 63 



CONTENTS. V 

SECTIONS. 

Combinations 64 

Ordinals vs. Cardinals 65 

F. Pronouns 66-71 

Personals 66-69 

Nature of . . . . .- . . . 66 

Prefixes corresponding to ... . 67 

Table of Personals and their Prefixes . 68 

Changes in form of Prefix .... 69 

Other Pronouns ...... 70 

Relative 71 

G. Adjective Pronouns 72-91 

Possessives 72-80 

Classes of 72 

Table of stems 73 

Method of formation 74-75 

Tables and explanations .... 76-80 

Demonstratives 81-86 

Formation of 81-83 

Table of 84 

Intensive form 85 

Locative 86 

Indefinites .87-88 

Interrogatives 89-91 

H. Articles and other Particles . . . 92-97 

Article 92 

Negatives 93-96 

Substantives, how negatived .... 94 

Adjectives, how negatived .... 95 

Verbs, how negatived 96 

Interjections 97 

I. Verbs 98-132 

Classes of 98 

Regular 99 

Irregular . . .» . . . . 100 

Forms 101-102 



VI 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



SECTIONS. 



Verb stem 


103 


Inflectional stem . . . . 


104-105 


Derivative forms ...... 


106-107 


Conjugation ....... 


108 


Infinitive, how found . 


109 


Inflection, Present Indicative 


no 


Prefix First Singular (ndi) 


in 


Prefix First Singular (ngu) . . 


112 


Past tenses, sign ..... 


™3 


Perfect, inflected 


114 


Past Perfect, inflected .... 


us 


Final consonant of Past Perfect . 


116 


Past tenses negative .... 


117 


Forms in ale . . ... 


118 


Future Indicative, Positive 


119 


Future Indicative, Negative . 


120 


Imperative, Positive . . . 


121 


Imperative, Negative .... 


123 


Infinitive, Positive ..... 


122 


Infinitive, Negative .... 


124 


Form of prefix, third person . 


. 125-127 


Table of Inflection . 


128 


Remarks on Table .... 


129 


Irregular Verbs 


• i3°-i3 2 


J. Adverbs, Prepositions, and Conjunctions 


• 133-137 


Adverbs ....... 


• i33- x 35 


Remarks 


133 


Classes of 


134 


Comparison of 


135 


Prepositions 


136 


Conjunctions ...... 


137 


PART III. SYNTAX 


. 138-218 


A. General Remarks 


• I3 8 "i4i 


Nature of sentences .... 


138 



B. 



C. 



D. 



CONTENTS. 








Vll 


SECTIONS. 


Classes of sentences 139-140 


Order of sentences 










141 


The Subject . 










T42-164 


What .... 










142 


Concord .... 










*43 


Position of 










144 


Personal Pronouns as subject 








MS 


Demonstrative as subject 








146 


Indefinites as subject 








147 


Infinitive as subject 










148 


Interrogatives as subject 










149 


Modifiers 










150-164 


What . 










150 


Position of 










J5 1 


Noun modifier 










I 5 2 ~ I 54 


Pronoun modifier . 










155-157 


Possessives 










156 


Demonstrative 










157 


Adjective Attributes 










158-159 


Interrogatives 










160 


Adverbs . 










161 


Infinitive 










162-163 


Relative clauses 










164 


Copula 










165-168 


Pronominal prefixes 










165-166 


Expletive ha . 










167 


Directive prefixes, etc. 










168 


Predicate 










169-212 


Agreement 










170 


Noun 










171 


Adjective 










172 


Verb 


• 








• i73~ l8 7 


Modifications . ' . 










• 173-175 


Moods . 










. 176-179 


Tenses . 










. 180-187 



Vlll UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

SECTIONS. 

Present 183 

Perfect 184 

Past Perfect 185 

Forms with ale ...... 186 

Future 187 

Modifiers . 188-212 

Predicate noun 188 

Adjective 189 

Verb . 190-212 

Adverbs 191 

Nouns 192-193 

Prefix Pronouns . . . . . . 194 

Personal Pronouns 195 

Indirect object 196 

Adverbial Phrases 197-198 

Infinitive 199 

Subordinate sentences 200-212 

Final 201-202 

Objective 203 

Conditional 204-208 

Temporal ....... 209-210 

Concessive . . . . . . . 211 

Causal ....... 212 

E. Words Used Absolutely . . . . 213 

Infinitive a (1-2) 

Noun . . . . . . . . b 

F. Numerals 214-218 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

i 



PART I. ORTHOGRAPHY. 



A. THE ALPHABET. 

i. The alphabet of the Umbundu consists of 
five vowels, seventeen consonants, and two semi- 
vowels. 

2. The vowels are the five typical long vowels of 
the Continental languages, a, e, i, o, u. 

a = a Italian, as in English father. 
e = e " " " fete, 

i = i " " " ee in feet. 

= " " " o in note. 

u = u " " " oo in boot. 

3. The vowels fall into the following classes, 
according to the vocal organs employed in their 
production : 



2 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

LINGUALS. LABIALS. 

close i. close u. 

medial e. medial o. 

open a. 

4. The union of two vowel sounds into one, form- 
ing a diphthong, does not occur. 

There are, however, several combinations of vowel 
sounds producing a modified sound resembling a 
diphthong. The fact that the vowels thus combined 
often contract goes to show that their union, without 
contraction, is not that of a true diphthong. These 
combinations are as follows : ae and ai approach- 
ing the English i in shine, but not nearly as open ; 
au something like broad o Scotch ; oi like the Portu- 
guese oi. 

5. Any vowel may be nasalized, but a, e, i, are 
the vowels which most frequently take the nasal. 
The sound of the vowel, which is affected by the 
nasal, remains the same as before its nasalization. 

6. In quantity all vowels are long, as a necessary 
result both of the nature of the vowels themselves, 
and of the method of syllabification, all syllables 
being open, as will be seen hereafter. 

7. In quality, also, all vowels are long. A and 
o, however, have in some words a modified sound 
resembling the typical short sounds of those vowels. 
This modification is probably due, in the case of the 
a, to proximity to the close vowel i (see Section 
23), and in the case of the to contraction of a 
and u into 0. (See Section 20.) 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 3 

8. The consonants are b, d, c, f, g, h, j, k, 1, m, 
n, n, p, r, s, t, v, and the semi-vowels w and y. 

9. Of these, b, g, d, j are nasal and correspond 
nearly to the English mb, ng, nd, nj. They unite 
the nasal quality of the m and n with the sub-vocal 
of the dental or palatal, as the case may be. Nj = 
ndi before a close vowel. 

10. L represents a liquid sound which is much 
softer than our 1 or soft r. It seems to be made with 
the middle of the tongue rather than the end. The 
r is written only in foreign words. 

11. C (pronounced chi) represents a compound 
sound tsh, equivalent to our ch in change, n equals 
ng in singer. 

12. All the other consonants, as well as the semi- 
vowels, have substantially the same sounds as in 
Continental languages generally, the v and w being 
a little softer than in English. 

13. Consonants fall naturally into three general 
classes, according to the organs used in producing 
them, viz. : 

{a) Labials b, m, p, v, f, semi-vowel w. 

(&) Dentals d, 1, n, t, j, s, c. 

(c) Palatals g, k, n, semi-vowel y. 

C is here placed among the dentals. Etymolog- 
ically it seems to be a palatalized dental ty ; as pro- 
nounced it is an aspirated compound dental tsh. 

14. Besides these three general classes there are 
several minor divisions of the consonants : 



4 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

r Pure m, n, n. 

, Labial b. 

a nasal group J ^^ ^ . 

^ Palatal g. 
Liquids 1, m. n, r. 
Gutturals k, g. 

rThe sibilant s and 

SlBXLANT S. tlie ^P 1 ^ 6 h al " e 

Breathing or aspirate h.i closel y a!lied and 

I sometimes int er- 

l change. 

15. Consonantal diphthongs do not occur. C = 
tsh is, however, an apparent exception to this rule. 

The nasalized sub-vocals b, d, g, j, are elementary 
sounds, and not compound, even though they be, as 
is usually the case, written mb, nd, ng, nj ; the m and 
n here lose their true consonantal character and 
become mere indices of the nasal quality of the let- 
ters with which they are joined. 

B. COMBINATION OF LETTERS. 

16. Every syllable begins with a single conso- 
nant, or a consonant and a semi-vowel, and closes 
with vowel. All syllables, therefore, are open and 
long. 

17. The first syllable of nouns, being a sort of 
article, does not fall under this rule, but stands by 
itself — e.g., o-mba-la, king's village. Some verbs 
also begin with a vowel — e.g., enda to go. In most 
cases of this sort, however, a weak labial has prob- 
ably been dropped. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 5 

As to the nasalized dentals and labials, it seems 
scarcely necessary to say that they do not form an ex- 
ception to the rule, being elementary sounds, though 
written in full, mb, etc. (see Sections 9 and 15). 

When a semi-vowel follows a consonant, there is 
another semi-vowel understood before the following 
full vowel. So we have two syllables instead of one, 
one of which begins with a semi-vowel. Thus chilwa 
might be written chilu-wa, accent on the antepenult. 
But it does not seem profitable to attempt to repre- 
sent every shade of sound ; therefore, the shorter 
method of uniting the semi-vowel with the initial con- 
sonant of the syllable is preferred, w and y being 
treated as full consonants, when they begin a syl- 
lable. 

A nasalized vowel, or one of the combinations of 
vowels (Section 4) may close a syllable as well as a 
simple vowel. 

18. Words are usually polysyllabic, and the 
accent falls, as a rule, upon the penultimate — onjii- 
li, shower; ambata, to carry; enda, to go; vfmbo, 
at home. But words ending in a combination of 
vowels, ai, ae, etc., accent the ultima. This, how- 
ever, is only an apparent exception ; really the accent 
falls on the stronger vowel a or o, and the other fol- 
lows closely, forming a semi-diphthong, but not a 
real diphthong. If the penultimate contains a semi- 
vowel, the accent goes to the antepenult, unless it 
falls under the above exception. 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



CONTIGUOUS VOWELS. 



19. Vowels which are brought together in the 
same word, by means of derivative and inflectional 
changes, are usually contracted; sometimes the 
stronger vowel entirely absorbs the weaker. 

20. The following table shows the general method 
of contraction : 

a before a contracts to a. 



a 


a 


e 


a 


66 e or semi-diphthong ae. 


a 


a 


i 


a 


" e" " ai. 


a 


a 





a 


" a" rarely u. 


a 


a 


u 


a 


" " semi-diphthong au, 


i 


a 


any 


vowel becomes y semi-vocal. 





a 


a 


a 


w 


u 


a 


a 


u 


w 



21. When two contiguous vowels belong to dif- 
ferent words, one is elided. 

Sometimes the contiguous vowels coalesce, and in 
some instances a compound word is formed. 

22. The close vowel i and its corresponding 
semi-vowel y sometimes drop between two stronger 
vowels when they belong to a weak consonant, which 
also' drops (see Section 28), and a syllable is thus 
lost. This is not frequent, however. 

D. VOWEL HARMONY. 

23. There is a tendency in vowels to harmonize, 
according to the natural division of vowels. In 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 7 

accordance with this tendency, suffixes begin with a 
close vowel (i or u) when the final stem vowel is one 
of that class, and with some other vowel when the 
final stem vowel is not close, e. g, vila would suffix ile 
making virile (the a does not belong to the stem), but 
feta would make fetele, in the same circumstances. 
The broad, open a of prefixes is also sometimes 
affected, in accordance with this tendency, by a close 
vowel (especially i) in a following syllable, being 
modified to e, Seyikile for Sayikile. So also before 
suffixes beginning with a consonant, the a final, 
which in that case remains, is often modified to e 
after a close vowel, e.g., yikuleko for yikula-ko. 

Note. In the case of the a of prefixes, the 
modification may, in some instances, be due to an i 
in the same syllable. 

E. CONSONANTAL SUCCESSION. 

24. From the rule of syllabification already 
noted (Sections 16 and 17) it follows that there 
can be neither doubling of the same, nor succession 
of different consonants. 

25. Since, however, a nasalized vowel may close a 
syllable, there may be, by means of inflectional and 
derivative changes, a nasal brought into immediate 
contact with an initial stem consonant. In that case 
the nasal is disposed of as follows : 

a. Before the vowels a, e, o, ng is inserted. 
" i, u, nj is inserted, 
the nasal dropping. 



8 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

b. Before any member of the nasal group of con- 
sonants (Section 14) the nasal is absorbed. 

c. Before the hard consonants f, s, etc., the nasal 
drops without any effect upon the consonant. 

d. Before soft dentals and labials (not nasal, see 
Section 13) the nasal drops, and the initial, den- 
tal, or labial passes into a corresponding nasal, i. e., 
a nasal of the same general class and character. 

e. Before the palatals (not nasal) the nasal drops 
and the initial consonant hardens. 

f. w semi-vowel is treated as a soft labial. 
y " " " " " close vowel. 

c " " " " compound ty, 

26. The following is a tabular presentation of 
the changes incurred in the initial consonant or of a 
breathing stem or syllable when preceded by a na- 
salized vowel. The nasal disappears from the vowel, 
and affects the following letters as follows : 

The soft breathing before an open vowel becomes 
ng. The soft breathing before a close vowel and y 
becomes nj. The rough breathing h is unchanged. 
The hard consonants f and s are unchanged. All 
nasals m, n, ng, nd, mb, nj, remain unchanged. 
Palatal k becomes h. 
c t becomes n. 

h 



Soft 
Dentals 1 

Soft 
Labials 



nd. 

c " ny. 
p " m. 
v " mb. 
w " mb. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



F. CONSONANTAL HARMONY. 

27. There is the same tendency in the case of 
the consonants as in the vowels to harmonize, ac- 
cording to natural classes and character. Suffixes, 
therefore, in general, have as their consonant one of 
the same class and character as the final consonant 
of the word to which they are affixed ; thus a nasal 
is followed by m or n according as it is labial or 
dental, etc. 

28. Soft labials and dentals (1, m, n, etc.) between 
two vowels usually drop, and the vowels unite, ac- 
cording to Section 20, e.g., lingalinga becomes, by 
dropping the 1 between the a and i, lingainga, to do 
habitually. 

Sapulile becomes sapuile, to have told. 



PART II. ETYMOLOGY. 



A. INFLECTION OF NOUNS 

29. General remarks : Inflection in Umbundu, 
as in all South African Bantu languages, is effected 
by means of prefixes rather than suffixes. These 
prefixes, however, do not constitute a full inflection 
like that of the Indo-European family of languages. 
Inflection in Umbundu consists (a) of a classification 
of nouns, (f) of an indication of the agreement of 
attributes with their substantives. 

The prefixes which are used in this inflection, 
therefore, fall into two general classes : 

(a) Those which are used, together with the 
demonstrative particle 0, in the classification of 
nouns, which we may call substantive preformatives. 

(b) Those which mark the agreement between 
attributes and their substantives. This class is also 
used as prefix pronoun, and is therefore called the 
pronominal prefix. 

30. The original use of these derivative prefixes, 
(called derivatives because they are derived from 
the ancient Bantu tongue, from which all South 
African Bantu languages originally came) is quite 



ETYMOLOGY. I I 

uncertain. All that is known of them is that they 
were once separate words, but whether parts of com- 
pound words or true pronouns is as yet unknown 
(see Bleek's Comparative Grammar of South African 
Languages). 

31. The substantive preformatives consist, as 
we have seen, of the derivative prefix preceded by 
the demonstrative particle 0, which is equivalent to 
the generic definite article. 

32. There is no distinction of sex in the classifi- 
cation of Umbundu nouns. Gender, therefore, can 
be predicated of Umbundu nouns, only in its orig- 
inal signification of a class. While it is true, how- 
ever, that Umbundu nouns are as a rule generic, 
there are some specific words which are sex denoting, 
as ukae, woman — as distinct from the generic term 
ulume, man; onjindi, cow — the generic term for 
cattle being ongombe. The specific nouns are, with 
the exception of ukae (woman), of much less fre- 
quent use than the generic. 

^^. Number, also, belongs to Umbundu nouns 
only in a modified sense. Certain classes include 
only singular nouns, others only plural ; and certain 
classes correspond as singular and plural. But 
there is no inflectional connection between them, i. e., 
a plural noun is not made from a singular noun, as 
the English boys from boy. In Umbundu the singu- 
lar is made by prefixing a certain prefix to a cer- 
tain stem. The plural is made by prefixing a dif- 



12 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

ferent prefix to the same stem, e.g., u-lume, man; 
a-lume, men. 

Several plural classes correspond to more than 
one singular, and one class has no corresponding 
plural except in a very few words. 

34. In the original Bantu language, from which 
all South African Bantu tongues are derived, there 
were eighteen (18) of those substantive prefixes. In 
only one of the many descendants of the mother 
tongue have these all been retained, viz. : the 
Otyiherero. 

35. In the Umbundu, fifteen of these prefixes 
are still in use in the formation of substantive pre- 
formatives. The other three are used as prefix 
directives (adverb or preposition) in the place of 
prefix pronouns, but do not appear either in substan- 
tive preform atives, or as prefix pronouns proper. 

36. The basis of classification of nouns seems, 
originally, to have been the signification of the 
various preformatives which distinguish the classes 
from one another. 

This basis can now be discovered only in part, as 
there is great latitude in the present arrangement of 
the classes, and often the placing of a noun in one 
class rather than in another seems purely arbitrary. 

37. There are certain general rules, however, 
which are valuable to the student, and which may be 
depended upon as applicable, at least as often as 
they are subject to exception. 

3&. The demonstrative (see Section 31), of the 



ETYMOLOGY. 1 3 

preformative, in all but two or three cases, stands 
as the opening syllable of the noun. In these 
exceptional cases, a weak labial (m or n) drops 
(Section 28) and contraction ensues. In one class 
the is probably displaced by the ancient article e 
or i (which still appears in the Kafir). 

39. The preformatives of the various noun 
classes are given below, in both the full and 
contract forms, together with the general signifi- 
cation of each, as nearly as it can be ascertained. 

Class 1, omu or u, corresponding plural Class 2, 
oma or a(va), denotes personality and human agency 
— ulume, man ; alume, men ; ungombo, drover ; 
(v)angombo, drovers. 

Class 3, omu or u, corresponding plural Class 4, 
omi or ovi or i, includes the names of many vege- 
tables and plants, but also other nouns \ omusambe, 
sweet potato ; omisambe, sweet potatoes. 

Class 5, e or i (both contract forms), corre- 
sponding plural Class 6, ova or a (ova correspond- 
ing to i and a to e) includes many things large and 
noteworthy — ilu, sky; isu, eye; plural ovasu. In 
e (Class 5) are found many abstracts, which, of 
course, do not generally admit of a plural ; ekavo, 
weariness. Class 6 includes many dual nouns — 
names of things which occur in pairs. The singular 
may be of Class 5 or some other, as Class 6 cor- 
responds as plural to several singulars ; eka, hand ; 
ovaka, hands. 

Class 7, oci, corresponding plural Class 8, ovi, 



14 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

denotes, in general, instrumentality. It also includes 
some augmentatives. 

Class and race are also denoted by these prefixes 
(Classes 7 and 8). 

SINGULAR. 

Ocitungu, bundle (the formed thing). 
Ocikepa, a large bone. 
Ocindele, a white man. 

PLURAL. 

Ovitungu, things formed. 
Ovikepa, large bones. 
Ovindele, white men. 

Class 9, o(n), corresponding plural Class 10, 
olo(n), includes many names of animals, also many 
derivative nouns, in which the verbal idea is trans- 
ferred to a participial or descriptive noun. 

Foreign nouns are frequently put into this class, 
also many of miscellaneous meanings : 

Ongombe, ox. 

Olongombe, oxen. 

Onjevo, hunt, from okuyeva, to hunt. 

Ongato, cat, from the Portuguese gato. 

Note. The nasal (n) of these prefixes is dis- 
posed of according to Sections 25 and 26, e.g., oku- 
landa, to buy, without change would form o(n)landa. 
Before a soft dental the nasal drops, and the initial 
consonant passes into a corresponding nasal {i. e., 
1 changes to nd) giving the form ondanda, buying. 



ETYMOLOGY. 1 5 

Class ii, olu, corresponding plural Class 10, olo(n), 
denotes, in general, extension. 

Olumbala, band or hoop. 
Olombala, bands or hoops. 
Classes 12, otu, and 13, oka, are diminutives. 
Okandimba, small hare. 
Otundimba, small hares. 
These classes also indicate small quantities, e.g., 
okasitu, a little meat. 

Class 14, ow, includes, with very few exceptions, 
nouns which admit of no plural. 
Owangu, grass. 
Owelema, darkness. 
Owanda, tepoia, has a plural of the 6th Class, 
awanda. If other nouns of this class have plurals, 
they probably belong to Class 6. 

Class 15, oku, includes locative nouns ; okutwi, 
ear (at the head). The corresponding plural is Class 
6, ovatwi. Here also belong infinitive nouns. 

40. The following table gives the full and con- 
tract forms of the substantive preformatives with 
the ancient form, from which the prefix of each is 
derived, and an example of each class. 



i6 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



C0 

<u 

V) 

a 
U 


31 


o «+- 
U 


S. i 


omu 


u 


PL 2 


oma 


a or 1 
va j 


S-3 


omu 


u 


PL 4 


ovi ) 
omi ) 


i 


S. 5 




e, i 


PL 6 


ova 


a 


S. 7 


oci 




PL 8 


ovi 




S. 9 


o(n) 





olo(n) 

olu 

olo(n) 

otu 

oka 

ow 

ova 

oku 

ova 



# <D g 



Examples. 



mu 

va 

mu 

mi 

li 

ma 

ci 

Pi 

i(n) 
li(n)ti(n) 

lu 
li(n) ti(n) 

tu 

ka 

vu 

ma 

ku 

ma 



Omunu, person. Ulume, man. 
Omanu, persons. Alume, men. 
Omutu, squash. Uti, tree. 
Omitu, squashes. Oviti, trees. 
Ekapa, potato. Isu, eye. 
Akapa, potatoes. Ovasu, eyes. 
Ocipa, skin. 
Ovipa, skins. 
Ongombe, ox. 
Olongombe, oxen. 
Olusi, fish. 

Olosi, fishes. [See Sees. 25 & 26.] 
Otundimba, small hares. 
Okandimba, small hare. 
Owangu, grass. 

Okuoko, arm. 

Ovoko, arms. [See Sec. 20.] 



ETYMOLOGY. 1 7 

No. 6 is given as plural of 14, as the nouns in 
this class which have a plural take No. 6 as corre- 
sponding plural. 

41. It will be seen from the table, that, with the 
exception of Class 14, the odd numbers mark singu- 
lar classes, the even numbers plural. Also the 
classes occur in consecutive order according to their 
numerical correspondence, with three exceptions. 
Class 11 takes Class 10 as corresponding plural; 
14 and 15 have Class 6, while 12 and 13 occur in 
inverted order. 

In Classes 1 and 3 the contract forms occur more 
frequently than the full. The same is true of 2, the 
plural of 1 ; but 4, the plural of 3, takes the full 
form almost universally, even when the singular has 
the contract form, as will be seen from the example, 
uti, singular; ovita, plural. 

Class 5 is the only class which has no full form. 

In some nouns of Class 3 it is uncertain whether 
the corresponding plural is Class 4 or Class 6, though 
4 only is given in the table. £.g., uta, gun ; ovota, 
guns. It is uncertain here whether the full form 
of the plural is ovauta, Class 6, the a and u con- 
tracting to o (Section 20) or oviuta, the i dropping 
(Section 22), and the u changing to (Section 23) ; 
either is possible ; the former seems more simple. The 
u, in this noun, and others of this class, seems to be 
a part of the stem. It sometimes occurs, however, 
in related languages, that the plural preform ative is 
prefixed to the singular instead of the stem, as is 



1 8 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

the general rule. This noun and others may be of 
this class. 

42. The relation of the present forms to the 
ancient prefix is easily traced in the majority of 
cases. As a rule, the present form differs from the 
ancient simply by the addition of the 0. Aside from 
the change of v to m in Class 2, Class 5 is the first, 
as it is also the only marked exception to the gen- 
eral rule. The full form of Class 5, according to 
analogy, would be oli, but how this could contract to 
e or i is not easily seen. It seems more probable 
that this class retains the ancient article e or i (see 
Section 38), for which the other classes substitute the 
demonstrative o, making its full form eli or ili, which 
would naturally drop the 1 (Section 28), and contract 
e i to e or i, while i z, of course, would coalesce to i. 

Note. In support of this view, it may be said 
that there appear to be nouns in Bihe whose pre- 
formative is eli. 

In Classes 6 and 8, the only change from the 
ancient form is the commutation of the consonants 
m and p, respectively, to v. 

In Class 9 there was probably a close vowel (i) in 
the original form, which has disappeared from the 
substantive prefix, leaving only the nasal (n) ; but 
the i still appears in the pronominal prefix (see Sec- 
tion 52, table). 

Class 10, ti(n) or li(n) commutes i to o, according 
to the law of vowel harmony (Section 23) making 
with the demonstrative o, olo(n) instead oli(n). 



ETYMOLOGY. 19 

If the original was ti(n) the t changes to 1. (It 
may be said here that the (n) of both 9 and 10 is 
simply a nasal index, and not a consonant proper). 

Class 14, vu, after prefixing o, drops the soft labial 
(Section 28), leaving ou, which changes to ow. 

This class is probably only another form of 3, 
and includes only vowel stems, /. e., stems beginning 
with a vowel. 

43. The noun, as thus classified, is, in all other 
respects, invariable in form, whatever office it may 
fill, with the exception of the attributive noun, which 
like all other attributes (see Section 47) takes the 
pronominal prefix. 

44. Besides the pronominal prefix, attributive 
nouns take the vowel a appended to the prefix • but 
as this a is elided before the o of the preformative 
of the noun, it appears only in nouns which drop 
the o, chiefly proper nouns and titles. E. g., on- 
gombe yasoma, the ox of the king ; but if the o be 
retained, ongombe yosoma, the a being elided be- 
fore the according to Section 21. 

B. INFLECTION OF ADJECTIVES AND OTHER ATTRI- 
BUTES. 

45. Each of the above substantive preform atives 
has its corresponding pronominal prefix, derived 
from the same ancient prefix. 

46. These pronominal prefixes have a two-fold 
use : {a) to represent the noun in the capacity of a 
pronoun ; (J?) to mark the agreement with the noun 
of all words depending upon it. It is in this latter 



20 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



use that we now consider the pronominal prefix, in 
the inflection of adjectives and other attributes. 

47. The general rule for the inflection of attri- 
butes of all sorts is, simply to prefix to the attribu- 
tive word the pronominal prefix which corresponds 
to the substantive preform ative of the noun modi- 
fied. 

48. The pronominal prefix of any class of nouns 
may be found, in general, by dropping the o from 
the preformative of that class ; or it may be formed 
from the ancient prefix, from which both the pre- 
formative and the pronominal prefix are derived. 
Allowances must of course be made in either mode 
for commutation or other variations of consonants. 

49. The following list of the preformatives and 
their corresponding pronominal prefixes will show 
the present forms of the latter : 

Class 



I. 


Omu 


or u. 


Pro. 


pre 


. mu or u. 


2. 


Oma 


a 


a. 


a 


a 


va " a. 


3- 


Omu 


a 


u. 


a 


it 


mu " u. 


4. 


Omi 


a 


i. 


it 


66 


vi. 


5- 


E 


a 


i. 


66 


66 


Ii. 


6. 


Ova 


u 


a. 


it 


66 


va or a. 


7. 


Oci 






66 


it 


ci. 


8. 


Ovi 






66 


ii 


vi. 


9- 
10. 
11. 


O(n) 

Olo(n) 
Olu 




66 

it 
it 


it 
it 

66 


i. 

vi. 

lu. 


12. 


Otu 






a 


66 


tu. 


J 3- 


Oka 






66 


66 


ka. 


14. 


Ow 






it 


66 


u. 


!5- 


Oku 






a 


66 


ku. 



ETYMOLOGY. 21 

50. In Classes 1 and 3 the shorter form u is 
used almost exclusively. 

In Classes 2 and 6, the v of the prefix is some- 
times dropped, and often retained, seemingly at the 
pleasure of the speaker. I and u, of course, change 
to semi-vowels, according to Section 20; but in the 
prefix vz, the i stands even before another vowel, a 
semi-vowel being understood, though not written, 
after it. 

51. It will be seen from the list, that, not being 
modified by the presence of the 0, as are the pre- 
formatives, the pronominal prefixes correspond more 
nearly to the ancient forms. 

Setting aside commutation of consonants, as too 
natural and simple a process to form an exception, 
the only variation in the forms of the pronominal 
prefixes from the ancient forms is in Class 10. 

The ancient form is ti(n) or li(n), and the t or 1 
must change to v (the nasal of course dropping) 
which is wholly anomalous, v being labial, and t and 
1 dental. 

Possibly 1 first changes to m, which is perfectly 
regular, both being liquids, the m would then easily 
change to v. 

52. The following table gives the substantive 
preformatives in their numerical correspondence 
followed by the pronominal prefixes, with an example 
of a noun and attribute of each class in grammatical 
agreement. 



22 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



Number. 


£ £ 

in cu 


Pronom. 
prefix. 


S. i 


omu ) 

or u j 

va ) 


mu ) 
or u j 


PL 2 


or > 
oma ) 


va 


S-3 


omu ) 


mu u 


PL 4 


omi ) 
vi i ) 


vi 


S.5 


e i 


li 


PL 6 


ova / 
a j 


(v)a 


S. 7 


oci 


ci 


PL 8 


ovi 


vi 


S. 9 


o(n) 


i 


PL io 


olo(n) 


vi 


S. ii 


olu 


lu 


PL io 


olo(n) 


vi 


PL 12 


otu 


tu 


S. 13 


oka 


ka 


S. 14 


ow 


u 


s. 15 


oku 


ku 


PL 6 


ova 


(v)a 



Examples. 



Omunu utitu, small person. 

Omanu vatitu, small persons. 

Omutu mutitu, small squash. 

Omitu vititu, small squashes. 

Ekapa, isu lititu, small potato or eye. 

Akapa, ovasu (v)atitu, small potatoes or 

[eyes. 
Ocipa cititu, small skin. 

Ovipa vititu, small skins. 

Ongombe ititu, small ox. 

Olongombe vititu, small oxen. 

Olusi lutitu, small fish. 

Olosi vititu, small fishes. 

Otundimba tutitu, small hares. 

Okandimba katitu, small hare. 

Owangu utitu, little grass. 

Okutwi kutitu, small ear. 

Ovatwi (v)atitu, small ears. 



ETYMOLOGY. 23 

53. Every word which depends upon the noun 
takes the pronominal prefix of that class to which 
the noun belongs, and this is true of predicate 
verbs and adjectives, etc., as well as of attributive 
words. 

54. Nouns of the personal classes (1 and 2) are 
represented by personal pronouns, as in other lan- 
guages, which are in turn represented by personal 
prefix pronouns which, in the case of verbs and 
predicate words, generally take the place of the 
regular pronominal prefixes of Classes 1 and 2. 
(See personal pronouns.) 

C. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES. 

55. Comparison is not effected by inflection. 
There are several methods by which words are com- 
pared. 

(a) By setting the objects compared over against 
each other, and using the adjective with one but 
not with the others, e.g., cisovi, this is long, means, if 
two objects are in mind, longer; if more than two, 
longest. 

(p) To affirm a quality of one object and deny it 
of others, either by a negation or an adjective of the 
opposite signification : ceci cisovi, this is long ; yu 
hacoko, that not so. Ceci cisovi yu cititu, this is 
long, that is short, meaning this is longer than that. 

(c) An intensive superlative is made (1) as in 
English by an adverb of quantity or intensity modi- 
fying the adjective, cisovi calua, this is very long, 



24 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

literally long much. (2) By reduplication, katitu 
titu, little little, i. e., very small. 

56. There is another method of comparison com- 
mon in related languages, the use of which here has 
not as yet been fully verified. This method is to 
join to the adjective (by a preposition of separation) 
the objects compared with the substantive modified 
by the adjective. E.g. Eye walunguka kovimbun- 
du vioha. He is wise from the ovimbundu all He 
is wisest of all the ovimbundu or wiser than all. 

Note. It is uncertain whether ko or lo would be 
the preposition used in this construction. 

D. DERIVATION OF NOUNS. 

57. The law of derivation seems to be, in general, 
the noun from the verb, rather than the latter from 
the former, or both from a common stem. Nouns 
derived from other nouns seem to be rare, owing, 
probably, to the change of meaning possible in any 
noun by a change of substantive preformative. 

Compound nouns are quite numerous. 

58. In the nouns derived from verbs, the following 
general rules seem to prevail, with more or less of 
modification, according to circumstances. 

(a) Derivative nouns, which denote the agent of 
the action expressed by the verb, belong to Classes 
1 and 2. E.g., ulovi, a fisherman, from okulova, to 
fish. Plural (v)alovi. 

{b) Nouns derived from stative verbs, names of 



ETYMOLOGY. 2$ 

states and qualities, are put into Class 5 — ekavo, 
weariness ; okukava, to be weary. 

(c) Derivative nouns, denoting the subject or 
object, not personal, of an action, naturally fall to 
Classes 7 and 8 : 

Ocisoli, love. 
Okusola, to love. 
Ocitungu, the thing formed. 
Okutunga, to build. 

(d) When the verbal idea of an active verb 
passes into a participial or descriptive noun, the 
derived noun belongs to Class 9, corresponding 
plural 10. Ondanda, buying; okulanda, to buy. 
Ohembi, a liar; okukemba, to lie. (For disposal of 
the nasal of the prefix, see Section 39, Class 9, 
Note.) 

59. With reference to nouns derived from other 
nouns, the same general rules will hold, L e., personal 
derivatives fall to Class 1 ; abstracts to Class 5 ; 
nouns denoting instrumentality to Class 7, and 
descriptive nouns to Class 9. Ungombo, drover, 
from ongombe, ox, is an example of the first class. 

Note. We must carefully distinguish between 
nouns derived from other nouns and the same noun 
stem with different preformatives, e. g., ocikepa, large 
bone, cannot properly be called a derivative from 
ekepa, bone, as ungombo is from ongombe. 

60. Compound nouns are formed : 

(a) By the union of a noun and attribute effected 
by the dropping of the pronominal prefix (especially 



26 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

of Class 9) before the attribute, and either contrac- 
tion or coalescence of the contiguous vowels : e. g, 
onjo yohama, y drops, and the o o coalesces giving 
onjohama, bedroom. 

(&) By transferring a verb and its object to a par- 
ticipial or descriptive noun, analagous to derivative 
nouns of Class 9, e.g., ondingupange, a workman, 
from okulinga upange, to do work. 

(c) A very common class of compounds is formed 
by uniting the personal demonstratives, u, singular, 
va, plural, with (1) A noun or infinitive to denote 
origin, characteristic, vocation, etc. Vangangella, 
they of Gangella; ukwalonga, he of the talk, i.e., a 
talker. In this case the preposition ko is used as 
connective ; this may or may not be, according to 
the will of the speaker ; euphony being the criterion 
by which this, as well as most other usages, is de- 
cided. (2) With the personal pronouns plural, to 
denote companionship, etc. : 

U kwetu, he of us = our fellow. 

U kwene, he of you = your fellow. 

Ukwavo, he of them = their fellow. 

Vakwetu, they of us = our fellows. 

Vakwene, they of you = your fellows. 

Vakwavo, they of them = their fellows. 
Each of these compounds has both a plural and 
singular signification, e.g., vakwetu means both our 
fellows and my fellows, according as the antecedent 
is singular or plural. Ukwame, etc., formed from 
the singular personals never occur. 



ETYMOLOGY. 



27 



E. NUMERALS. 

61. The numerals are partly substantive and 
partly attributive as follows : 

(a) Attributive declined, 1-5. 

" sometimes declined, generally 

not, 6-9. 

(b) Nouns of Classes 5 and 6, the tens. 

" " " 7 and 8, hundreds. 
" " " 9 and 10, thousands. 



62. 



Units. 

1. Mosi. 

2. Vali. 

3. Tatu. 

4. Kwana. 

5. Tanu. 

6. Epandu. 

7. Epanduvali. 

8. Ecinana. 

9. Ecia. 



Tens. 

10. Ekwi. 
20. Akwiavali. 
30. Akwiatatu. 
40. Akwiakwana 
50. Akwiatanu. 
60. Akwiepandu. 
70. Akwiepanduvali. 
80. Akwiecinana. 
90. Akwiecia. 



Hundreds. 



100. Ocita. 
200. Ovita vivali. 
300. Ovita vitatu. 
400. Ovita vikwana. 
500. Ovita vitanu. 



600. Ovita(vi)epandu. 
700. Ovita(vi)epanduvali. 
800. Ovita(vi)ecinana. 
900. Ovita(vi)ecia. 



28 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



Thousands. 

iooo. Ohukae 6000. Olohukae (vi)epandu. 

2000. Olohukae vivali. 7000. Olohukae (vi)epandu- 

vali. 
3000. Olohukae vitatu. 8000. Olohukae (vi)ecinana. 
4000. Olohukae vikwana. 9000. Olohukae (vi)ecia. 
5000. Olohukae vitanu. 

63. It will be seen that the units, in the numbers 
higher than ten, agree as adjectives with the tens, 
hundreds, and thousands ; thus, tens two, hundreds 
two, thousands two, etc. In the units from 6-9, the 
pronominal prefix is, in the case of the tens, prob- 
ably contracted with the e of the numerals to e. 
Generally it is omitted, when contraction is im- 
possible. 

64. The combinations of numerals are simple, 
and do not call for a full table • tens and units unite 
by the copulative conjunction la, e.g., ekwi la tanu, 
ten and five = 15 ; akwiavali la tanu, two tens and 
five = 25. 

Hundreds with tens and units unite in the same 
way : ovita vivali lekwi, hundreds two and ten, 210 ; 
ovita vitatu, lakwiatanu latanu, hundreds three and 
tens five and five, 355. 

65. Ordinals do not differ from cardinals in form ; 
usage determines which is meant — eteke litatu = the 
third day; but olonke vitatu, three days. The cardi- 
nal taking the plural. 



ETYMOLOGY. 



2 9 



F. PRONOUNS. 

66. The only separable pronouns in Umbundu 
are the personals of the first, second, and third per- 
sons, singular and plural. These pronouns are 
indeclinable, being the same in form for any gender 
or case. 

67. Like the nouns which they represent, these 
personal pronouns are in turn represented by pro- 
nominal prefixes, which sustain the same relation to 
the personal pronouns as the regular pronominal 
prefixes do to the noun. 

68. The personal pronouns and their correspond- 
ing prefixes, which for convenience we may call the 
personal pronominal prefixes, are given in the fol- 
lowing table : 





Singular 
Personal pro- 
nouns. 


Singular 
Pers. Pre- 
fix. 


1 


Plural 
Personal pro- 
nouns. 


Plural 
Pers. Pre- 
fix. 


I 


I 


ame 


ndi (ngu) 


we 


etu 


tu 


2 


thou 


ove 





2 


ye 


ene 


vu 


3 


he, she 


eye 





3 


they 


ovo 


va 



69. These personal prefixes are used chiefly in 
the conjugation of the verb (see Section 108) and in 
representing the personal noun and pronoun as 
object of the verb ; and, in that capacity, the follow- 
ing euphonic changes of form occur. 



30 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

(a) The first person (ndi) either as subject or 
object is treated as a prefix containing a nasalized 
vowel, and therefore is disposed of according to 
Sections 25 and 26: e.g., okukemba, to lie. The 
first person would be ndikemba, but according to 
the rule (Section 26) the nasal drops (and here the 
close vowel i with it), and the palatal k changes to 
the aspirate h, making hemba as the first person, 
instead of ndikemba. If the ndi be object, the 
same change occurs, the only difference being, that, 
in that case, the subject prefix precedes, e.g., wandi- 
kemba, he lies to me ; by the same process as above 
becomes wahemba. 

(b) The second person singular, as object, takes 
the form ku instead of o, for reasons as yet unknown. 

(c) O of the third person singular, both as subject 
and object, becomes w before a vowel (Section 20). 

70. All other pronouns are the pronominal pre- 
fixes used to represent the noun as subject or object 
of the verb, and in forming the stems of the various 
adjective pronouns which are pronouns in use and 
adjectives in form, i.e., they are subject to attributive 
inflection (Section 53), while performing the office of 
pronouns. 

71. When the pronominal prefix occurs in a sub- 
ordinate sentence it is equivalent to a relative pro- 
noun in other languages, and this is the only trace 
of a relative which has yet been found ; ulume wa- 
tungile onjo yetu waenda, the man he built our 
house, he went, equivalent to the man who built, etc. 



ETYMOLOGY. 3 1 



G. ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. 



72. Possessives : The possessives are, etymolog- 
ically, of two classes, (a) Those derived from the 
personal pronouns, i. e., having a personal pronoun 
as their stem. (J?) Those derived from the pronom- 
inal prefixes, i. e., having a pronominal prefix as their 
stem. The former we may call personal, the latter 
general, possessives. 

73. The following table gives the stem form of 
each class of possessives, with the pronoun or prefix 
from which each form is derived. 



32 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 





Singular. 


Plural. 




Pronoun. 


Poss. stem. 


Pronoun. 


Poss. stem. 


1 Person 

2 " 

3 " 


ame 
ove 
eye 


ange 

ove 

ae 


etu 
ene 

ovo 


etu. 
ene. 
avo. 



Noun 
classes. 


Pro. prefix. 


Poss. stem. 


Pro. prefix. 


Poss. stem. 


3 and 4 


u 


ao 


vi 


vio. 


5 and 6 


li 


lio 


(v)a or a 


ao or avo. 


7 and 8 


ci 


CO 


vi 


vio. 


9 and 10 


i 


yo 


vi 


vio. 


11 


lu 


luo 






12 and 13 


tu 


tuo 


ka 


ko. 


14 


u 


ao 






*5 


ku 


kuo 







74. The personals undergo very few changes. 
The first person changes ame to ange, probably a 
more ancient form. In the third person y drops in 
the singular, and changes to a in the plural. 

75. The general method of forming the posses- 



ETYMOLOGY. 33 

sive stem from the pronominal prefix is to add o, 
which addition gives rise to various euphonic changes 
easily explained by the rules of orthography already 
given. 

The personal Classes 1 and 2 take the personal 
possessives, and therefore are not given in the table 
of general prefixes, and the stems formed from 
them. 

76. The following tables (Sections 79-80) give 
the personal and general possessives respectively, 
in agreement with the substantives of the various 
classes. 

77. In the table of general possessives the sub- 
stantive, with which the possessive agrees, stands in 
the column on the left • whereas the antecedent, 
which gives form to its stem, is marked in the num- 
bers of the noun classes at the head of each col- 
umn. As the forms of several classes are identical, 
they are put into the same column for economy of 
space, e.g., 1 and 14, etc. 

78. In analyzing any form of the general posses- 
sive we look to the head of the column for the class 
from which the stem form is derived, and to the col- 
umn on the left for the class which furnishes the 
attributive prefix, e.g., ongombe walia okulia kwayo, 
the ox has eaten his (or its) food. Kwayo, as adjec- 
tive, agrees with okulia, hence takes the prefix of 
Class 15, ku, which we find in the column on the left 
with the example okutwi. The antecedent of the 
possessive is ongombe. The stem, therefore, is de- 



34 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

rived from Class 9, to which ongombe belongs ; the 
prefix of this Class before a vowel is y, adding o 
(Section 75) we have yo, joining this with the pre- 
fix of Class 15, by means of the genitive a, we have 
kwayo. (See Table, column 9, opposite okutwi, 
Class 15.) 



ETYMOLOGY. 



35 



Personal Possessive Pronouns. 



79- 



Singular. 


Plural. 


(A 
tn 

U 


Nouns. 


Mine. 


Thine. 


His. 


Ours. 


Yours. 


Theirs. 


I 


omunu 


wange 


wove 


wae 


wetu 


wene 


wavo 


2 


omanu 


(v)ange 


(v)ove 


(v)ae 


(v)etu 


(v)ene 


(v)avo 


3 


omukanda 


wange 


wove 


wae 


wetu 


wene 


wavo 


4 


omikanda 


viange 


viove 


viae 


vietu 


viene 


viavo 


5 


ekapa 


liange 


liove 


liae 


lietu 


liene 


liavo 


6 


akapa 


(v)ange 


(v)ove 


(v)ae 


(v)etu 


(v)ene 


(v)avo 


7 


ocipa 


cange 


cove 


cae 


cetu 


cene 


cavo 


8 


ovipa 


viange 


viove 


viae 


vietu 


viene 


viavo 


9 


ongombe 


yange 


yove 


yae 


• yetu 


yene 


yavo 


10 


olongombe 


viange 


viove 


viae 


vietu 


viene 


viavo 


ii 


olusi 


luange 


luove 


luae 


luetu 


luene 


luavo 


12 


otundimba 


tuange 


tuove 


tuae 


tuetu 


tuene 


tuavo 


J 3 


okandimba 


kange 


kove 


kae 


ketu 


kene 


kavo 


14 


owangu 


wange 


wove 


wae 


wetu 


wene 


wavo 


J 5 


okutwi 


kwange 


kwove 


kwae 


kwetu 


kwene 


kwavo 



36 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



80. 


General Possessives. 






Antecedents. 


GO 

a 

u 


Substantives. 


h 3> J 4- 


2,6. 


4, 8, 10. 


5- 


I 


omunu 


wae 


wavo 


wavo 


wae 


2 


omanu 


vae 


vavo 


vavo 


vae 


3 


omukanda 


wao 


wa(v)o 


wavio 


waiio 


4 


omikanda 


viao 


via(v)o 


viavio 


vialio 


5 


ekapa 


liao 


lia(v)o 


liavio 


lialio 


6 


akapa 


(v)ao 


(v)a(v)o 


(v)avio 


valio 


7 


ocipa 


cao 


ca(v)o 


cavio 


calio 


8 


ovipa 


viao 


via(v)o 


viavio 


vialio 


9 


ongombe 


yao 


ya(v)o 


yavio 


yalio 


10 


olongombe 


viao 


via(v)o 


viavio 


vialio 


11 


olusi 


luao 


lua(v)o 


luavio 


lualio 


12 


otundimba 


tuao 


tua(v)o 


tuavio 


tualio 


*3 


okandimba 


kao 


ka(v)o 


kavio 


kalio 


14 


owangu 


wao 


wa(v)o 


wavio 


walio 


15 


okutwi 


kwao 


kwa(v)o 


kwavio 


kwalio 



ETYMOLOGY. 



37 



General Possessives. 



Antecedents. 



7- 


9- 


n. 


12. 


13- 


IS- 


wae 


wae 


wae 


wavo 


wae 


wae 


vae 


vae 


vae 


(v)avo 


vae 


vae 


waco 


wayo 


waluo 


watuo 


wako 


wakwo 


viaco 


viayo 


vialuo 


viatuo 


viako 


viakwo 


liaco 


liayo 


lialuo 


liatuo 


liako 


liakwo 


(v)aco 


(v)ayo 


(v)aluo 


(v)atuo 


(v)ako 


(v)akwo 


caco 


cayo 


caluo 


catuo 


cako 


cakwo 


viaco 


viayo 


vialuo 


viatuo 


viako 


viakwo 


yaco 


yayo 


yaluo 


yatuo 


yako 


yakwo 


viaco 


viayo 


vialuo 


viatuo 


viako 


viakwo 


luaco 


luayo 


lualuo 


luatuo 


luako 


luakwo 


twaco 


tuayo 


tualuo 


tuatuo 


tuako 


tuakwo 


kaco 


kayo 


kaluo 


katuo 


kako 


kakwo 


waco 


wayo 


waluo 


watuo 


wako 


wakwo 


kwaco 


kwayo 


kwaluo 


kwatuo 


kwako 


kwakwo 



38 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

81. Demonstrative adjective pronouns consist of 
the pronominal prefixes inflected attributively (Sec- 
tion 47) with particles of location affixed : a near, 
remote, na distant. 

82. When a follows the close vowels (i and u) it 
is modified to e after i and after u (Section 23). 
Sometimes it disappears, and sometimes it contracts 
with the vowel of the prefix. The same is true 
of 0. 

83. As the antecedent of the demonstrative is 
also the noun with which it agrees, its form is a 
reduplication of the pronominal prefix with the 
particles of location affixed, modified' by such eu- 
phonic changes as naturally arise from the contiguity 
of two vowels. 

84. The following table gives the forms which the 
demonstrative assumes in agreement with the vari- 
ous classes of nouns. (The same examples of nouns 
are used as in other tables, to avoid writing the 
meaning of new words.) 



ETYMOLOGY. 



39 



Demonstratives. 





Nouns. 


This. 


That. 


That yonder. 


Class i 


omunu 


u 


u 


una 


Class 2 


omanu 


(v)ava 


(v)ovo 


vana 


Class 3 


omukanda 


u or yu 


yo 


yuna 


Class 4 


omikanda 


vievie 


viovio 


vina 


Class 5 


isu 


lielie 


liolio 


lina 


Class 6 


ovasu 


(v)ava 


(v)ovo 


(v)ana 


Class 7 


ocipa 


ceci 


caco 


cina 


Class 8 


ovipa 


vievie 


viovio 


vina 


Class 9 


ongombe 


yi 


yoyo 


yina 


Class io 


olongombe 


vievie 


viovio 


vina 


Class ii 


olusi 


luolu 


luoluo 


luna 


Class 12 


otundimba 


tuotu 


tuotuo 


tuna 


Class 13 


okandimba 


kaka 


koko 


kana 


Class 14 


owangu 


y u 


yo 


yuna 


Class 15 


okutwi 


kwoku 


kwokwo 


kuna 



40 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

85. The demonstrative stem of Class 7 is used 
as a sort of intensive demonstrative, taking the pre- 
fix of any class of nouns to point out an object more 
definitely, as before mentioned or well known, e.g., 
ulume waco, that (before-mentioned or well-known) 
man ; whereas, ulume u or una would simply mean 
that man. 

86. There is also a demonstrative locative, 
formed by prefixing the expletive ha (it is) to the 
demonstrative. E.g.: 

N ( Class 5, hali, it is here. Negative haliko. 
1 Class 9, hayi, it is here. Negative hayiko. 
Remote, Class 9, hayo, it is there. Negative hayoko. 

87. The indefinite adjective pronouns are : 1. 
mwe, certain, some, etc. ; inflected attributively (Sec- 
tion 47) : ulume umwe, a certain man ; alume vamwe, 
certain men ; ocindele cimwe, a certain white man. 
2. Osi or oha, all, every, inflected attributively (Sec- 
tion 47) : 

Alume vosi, all men. 

Eteke liosi, all day. 

Oloneke viosi, all days, i. e., every day. 

88. Sometimes the noun with which the indefinite 
agrees, or should agree, is omitted, and the indefinite 
takes its place. When this is the case the following 
forms are used in general : 

I. PERSONAL SUBSTANTIVES. 

Umwe, some one. 
Laumwe =lomwe, no one. 



ETYMOLOGY. 4 1 

2. GENERAL SUBSTANTIVES. 

Cimwe, something. 
Lacimwe, nothing. 
Cosi or coha, all things, every thing. 

3. ADVERBS. 

Pwamwe, sometimes. 

Kumwe, somewhere. 

Lakumwe, nowhere. 

Cimwe, very, e .g., cinene cimwe = very large. 

89. Interrogatives are partly adjective, partly 
adverbial. 

90. The adverbials are nyi, what or why ; and 
ndati or ndeti, what or how. Nyi may precede or 
follow the predicate which it grammatically modi- 
fies, e. g. : 

Walinga nyi, you are doing what ? 

Nyi walinga, what are you doing ? 
Ndati or ndeti is always enclitic, i. e., joined to the 
end of a word as an added syllable. Hatindati == he 
says what? Walingandati, how do you do it? or 
what are you doing ? 

91. The adjective (i.e., inflected) interrogatives 
are pi, which or where ; elie, who or what ; e what 
sort ; name, how many. Pi inflected attributively 
is which, inflected with the directive prefix it is 
where, e.g., onjo yipi, which house? Ombala kupi, 
where is the king's village ? Pi as an adverb (where) 
also occurs as an enclitic, e. g. : 

Waendapi, where did he go ? 
Okasipi, where is he ? 



42 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

Elie, iminflected, is who or what, subject or object 
of the verb, e. g., elie waloya, who shot ? or he shot 
whom ? With the expletive ha (it is) elie is predi- 
cate, e.g., u helie ? he, who is he? Inflected attri- 
butively elie is possessive, whose ; ongombe yelie, 
whose ox ? 

E is always inflected attributively, meaning what 
sort, e. g, onjo ye, what sort of house ? 

Name (how many) is also always inflected attri- 
butively, e.g., olongombe viname, how many oxen? 

He is an interrogative interjection, e.g., ame ngen- 
da, ove he, I go, what as to you ; i. e., what will you 
do? 

H. THE ARTICLE AND OTHER PARTICLES. 

92. The article as a separate part of speech does 
not occur. 

The only trace of anything like the article is the 
o of the substantive preformatives ; • this, as we have 
seen, is equivalent to a generic definite article, i. e., 
it points out objects as belonging to a genus or class, 
just as we say the bear, meaning animals of a certain 
kind, i. e., those possessed of the peculiar properties 
of the individual animal which we call a bear. 

As nouns in Umbundu are as a rule generic, there 
is no need of any other article. 

93. Negatives : The general negative is ka, sup- 
plemented in certain instances by the enclitic ko. 
The ka is sometimes softened to ha. 

94. Substantives (nouns and pronouns) are nega- 
tived by prefixing the softened form of the negative, 



ETYMOLOGY. 43 

ha, and affixing the enclitic form ko, e.g. hambwa- 
ko = not a dog, from ombwa dog the a of the prefix 
contracts with the o to a (Section 20) : 

Hayangeko, not mine. 

Heyeko, not he, etc. 
A substantive and its attribute are negatived to- 
gether as a single word, e.g., hamikanda vioveko = 
not your letters. 

Note. It is possible that the ha used in this 
method of negation is the expletive ha, but it seems 
simpler to regard it as the softened form of ka, as 
that form does occur elsewhere, as will be seen below. 

95. Adjectives are negatived by prefixing ka 
(rarely ha) and suffixing ko. 

The ka is prefixed to the pronominal prefix which 
marks the agreement of the adjective, e.g. : 
Kacineneko, this is not large. 
Hauwako, he is not good. 
The personal possessives, as well as the personals 
themselves, are treated as substantives in taking the 
negative. (See examples above, Section 94.) 

The indefinites seem to have a negative peculiar 
to themselves, viz., la, e.g. : 
Umwe, some one. 
Laumwe, no one. 

96. Verbs are negatived by prefixing ka to the 
pronominal prefixes which mark their agreement 
with the subject. The personal prefixes undergo 
certain euphonic changes, when the ka is prefixed 
to them, as will be seen in the table below. 



44 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



Singular. 


Plural. 




. a 


X5 . 

■ « s? 


Pre. and neg. 

Contract 

Forms. 


<L> .2 


-a . 

C3 <u 

CSS > 


Pre. and neg. 

Contract 

Forms. 


i 

2 

3 


ndi 

o 

o 


kandi 

kao 

kao 


si 

ku 

ka 


tu 

(v)u 

va 


katu 

ka(v)u 

kava 


katu 

ko 

kava 



Every form in the singular contracts only one in 
the plural, viz., the second person. 

The first singular is peculiar, and as yet unex- 
plained. The change must be due, however, to the 
presence of the nasal, though not according to 
Sections 25 and 26. 

Predicate nouns as well as verbs take these nega- 
tived prefixes, affixing ko : sicindeleko, I am not a 
white man. 

97. Interjections are numerous, but partake more 
of the nature of words used absolutely (Section 213) 
than of mere exclamations. Their forms and mean- 
ings are best learned from the Vocabulary. 

1. VERBS. 

98. The Umbundu verb naturally divides itself 
into two classes, (a) Active verbs, those which 



ETYMOLOGY. 45 

express an act : okuteta, to cut. (b) Stative verbs, 
those which express a state or quality, e.g., okutema, 
to be angry. 

99. Any verb, active or stative, is regular, if it be 
a polysyllable beginning with a consonant and ending 
with the vowel a. 

100. Of verbs not included under the above 
definition, (a) those which end in some other 
vowel than a are quite apt to be irregular in the im- 
perative, (b) Those beginning with a vowel suffer 
contraction (Section 20) between the final vowel of 
the pronominal prefix, which marks the agreement 
of the verb with its subject, and the initial vowel of 
the verb stem, (c) Monosyllabic verbs are often 
defective and quite irregular, but not invariably so. 

1 01. The inflectional variations in the verb are 
few and simple, there being but three moods and 
four tenses which have distinct forms. 

102. This poverty of moods and tenses is coun- 
teracted by derivative verbal forms corresponding to 
the different voices of other languages, consisting of 
variations in the verb stem with corresponding varia- 
tions in the verbal idea. 

103. The infinitive of the simple verbal form, 
without its sign (oku) is the verb stem from which all 
derivative forms are made. 

104. The infinitive of any verbal form, whether 
simple or derivative, is also the inflectional stem or 
ground form of the inflection of the verb. 

105. The final a of the infinitive is not a part 



46 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

either of the verb stem or of the inflectional stem, 
but falls away when a suffix is added which begins 
with a vowel, e.g., fet-a fet-ela ; mon-a, mon-isa. 

Note. This a seems to have taken the place 
of an original final vowel, as no consonant can close 
a syllable. 

1 06. Derivative forms. The derivative verbal 
forms are made from the simple verb stem (Section 
103) by the following changes : 

DERIVED FORMS. 

i. Simple form = the verb stem -|- a, e. g., mon-a 
(see Section 105). 

2. Causative form = the verb stem -\- isa, mon-isa. 

3. Passive form = " " -\- iwa mon-iwa, 

4. Relative form = " " -J- ela, ila, ula, 

uka, etc., mon-ela. 

5. Reflexive form = simple form prefixing ii, limona. 

6. Reduplicate form = " " reduplicated, 

monamona. 

107. We have, thus, six verbal forms with a com- 
mon stem, and a commmon ground idea, varied to 
a greater or less degree, to correspond with the 
changes of the verb stem in the different forms : e.g., 
Simple form, okumona = to see. 

Causative form, okumonisa = to cause to see. 
Passive form, okunioniwa or moneha = to be seen. 
Relative form, okumonela, etc. = to look for. 
Reflexive form, okulimona = to see one's self or each 
other. 



ETYMOLOGY. 47 

Reduplicate form, okumonamona = to see habitually. 
Note. Neither the verb given in the examples, 
nor any other, probably, is found in all the forms ; 
but they are given in order to exhibit more clearly 
the common origin of the forms as well as the diverg- 
ence of the derivative forms from the common stem 
(the simple form), and from each other. The use of 
these derivative forms will be considered elsewhere. 
Here we have to do only with the forms. 

1 08. Each of these verbal forms is conjugated in 
three moods : indicative, imperative, and infinitive ; 
four tenses : present, perfect, past perfect, and 
future, by means of the personal pronominal prefixes 
of the first, second, and third persons, singular and 
plural, positive and negative ; for the forms of which 
see Sections 68 Positive, and 96 Negative. 

109. The infinitive (inflectional stem) of any 
derivative form may be found by dropping the pro- 
nominal prefix and tense signs of any given inflected 
part. 

The infinitive of the simple form may be found 
from an inflected part of the simple form, as above ; 
from a derivative form it may be found by dropping 
the suffix or prefix as the case may be of the inflec- 
tional stem, and adding the final a. Of course, the 
inflectional stem of the simple form of the verb, less 
the final a, is also the verb stem ; e. g., wamonisa, he 
caused to see. To find the inflectional stem of the 
derivative (causative form) drop the wa, which in- 
cludes the pronominal prefix and the tense sign of 



48 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

the past, and we have monisa, the inflectional stem 
of the causative form; and also the infinitive of that 
form. Drop isa, and we have mon, the verb stem, 
i. e., the infinitive (less its sign and final a) of the 
simple verbal form which we can also find from any 
inflected part of the simple form precisely as we 
found monisa above. 

no. Inflection of the indicative present. The 
indicative present of all verbal forms, both simple 
and derived, is made by prefixing the personal pro- 
nominal prefixes (Section 68) to the inflectional stem 
or ground form, e.g., okufeta, to pay. The inflec- 
tional stem is feta ; prefixing the personal pronomi- 
nal prefixes we have 

SINGULAR. 

First person, ndi or (ngu) feta, I pay. 
Second person, o feta, thou payest. 
Third person, o feta, he pays. 

PLURAL. 

First person, tu feta, we pay. 
Second person, (v)u feta, you pay. 
Third person, va feta, thev pav. 



Second person, (v)u ieta, you p; 
Third person, va feta, they pay. 



The negative forms of the present indicative take 
the negatived personal pronominal prefixes (Section 
96), and the interrogative and some other forms of 
sentences change the final a of the verbal form to 
e or i, according as the preceding stem vowel is open 
or close (Section 23), e. g. : 



ETYMOLOGY. 49 

SINGULAR. 

First person, si feta(i), I do not pay. 
Second person, ku feta(i), thou dost not pay. 
Third person, ka feta(i), he does not pay. 

PLURAL. 

First person, ka tu feta(i), we do not pay. 
Second person, ko feta(i), ye do not pay. 
Third person, ka va fata(i), they do not pay. 

in. The first personal prefix (ndi) is treated as 
a nasalized vowel, and disposed of according to 
Sections 25 and 26. 

Before the hard consonants f, s, and h, and the 
nasal group (Section 14) the prefix remains un- 
changed, as in the verb used in the examples, in- 
stead of dropping as does the nasal of a substantive 
preformative. As an example of the dropping of 
the prefix, as above stated, we may take the verb 
oku landa, to buy. 

The present first person would be ndi landa 
according to the rule (Sections 25 and 26), the nasal 
drops (and the weak vowel i also drops Section 22), 
the initial 1 is then commuted to the corresponding 
nasal nd, giving ndanda, I buy. 

112. Ngu seems to be v^ryrare, but so far as its 
use is known, it is synonymous with the full form of 
ndi (ngu feta = ndi feta). 

113. Inflection of the past tenses of the indica- 
tive. All past tenses take the tense sign a affixed to 
the personal prefix as follows : 



50 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



SINGULAR. 



First person, ndi -\- a = nda. 

Second person, o-|- a = wa (Section 20). 

Third person, o -)- a = wa. 

PLURAL. 

First person, tu-f- a = twa (Section 20). 
Second person, (v)u -|- a = (v)wa (Section 20). 
Third person, va-(- a = va (Section 20). 

114. The perfect indicative of all verbal forms, 
whether simple or derivative, is inflected by prefix- 
ing the personal prefixes with the past tense sign 
affixed (Section 113) to the inflectional stem or 
ground form, thus : 

SINGULAR. 

First person, nda feta, I have paid. 
Second person, wa feta, thou hast paid. 
Third person, twa feta, he has paid. 

PLURAL. 

First person, twa feta, we have paid. 
Second person, (v)wa feta, you have paid. 
Third person, va fete, they have paid. 

115. The past perfect indicative of all forms, 
simple or derivative, is formed from the perfect by 
adding ele or ile, ene or ine, to the verb stem. 

Note. For e or i as initial vowel of the suffix 
see Section 23, for 1 or n as consonant see Sec- 
tion 27. 



ETYMOLOGY. 5 1 

SINGULAR. 

First person, nda fetele, I paid. 

Second person, wa fetele, thou didst pay. 

Third person, wa fetele, he paid. 

PLURAL. 

First person, twa fetele, we paid. 
Second person, (v)wa fetele, you paid. 
Third person, va fetele, they paid. 

116. When the final consonant of the verb is a 
weak one, 1, m, or n, it drops (Section 23), and the 
contiguous vowels are disposed of according to Sec- 
tion 20. -E-g., okumona, to see. Past perfect in 
full wamonine, the n of the stem drops (Section 23), 
leaving wamoine which, according to Section 20, 
becomes wamwhle. 

117. The negative forms of the perfect are 
made by adding the past tense sign a to the negative 
personal prefixes, e.g. : 

SINGULAR. 

First, si -(- a = sa feta(i), I have not paid. 
Second, ku -f- a = kwa feta(i), you have not paid. 
Third, ka -j- a = ka feta(i), he has not paid. 

PLURAL. 

First, ka tu -|- a = ka twa f eta(i), we have not paid. 
Second, ko -f- a = kwa feta(i), you have not paid. 
Third, ka va -f- a = ka va feta(i), they have not paid. 

The past perfect negative adds the past perfect 
suffixes to the above, e. g 9 : 



52 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



SINGULAR. 



First, sa fetele, I did not pay. 
Second, kwa fetele, thou didst not pay. 
Third, ka, fetele, he did not pay. 

PLURAL. 

First, ka twa fetele, we did not pay. 
Second, kwa fetele, you did not pay. 
Third, ka va fetele, they did not pay. 

The latter forms are almost exclusively used instead 
of the perfect forms in common conversation. 

118. There is a form of the verb made by ad- 
ding ale to either of the past tenses which corre- 
sponds very nearly to our pluperfect, denoting an 
act as accomplished before, or long «ago ; but as this 
suffix is invariable wherever it may occur, it is prob- 
ably not an inflectional suffix of the verb, like ile 
and ele, etc., but an enclitic adverb of time, used 
with the past tenses to limit them in a certain man- 
ner, as stated above, e. g., nda f eteleaie, I had paid 
(long ago or before). 

119. The tense sign of the future is ka, prefixed 
to the inflectional stem, e.g., okukamona, to be 
about to see ; okukamonamona, to be about to see 
habitually. 

The future is inflected by prefixing the personal 
prefixes to this future inflectional stem : 

SINGULAR. 

First, ndi ka = ha mona (Section 26), I shall see. 



ETYMOLOGY. 53 

Second, o kamona, thou wilt see. 
Third, o kamona, he will see. 

PLURAL. 

First, tu kamona, we will see. 
Second, vu kamona, you will see. 
Third, va kamona, they will see. 

The prefixes with the past tense sign are frequently 
used in forming the future, without, however, mak- 
ing what we should call a future perfect, e. g. ; 

SINGULAR. 

First, nda kamona, I shall see. 
Second, wa kamona, thou wilt see. 
Third, wa kamona, he will see. 

PLURAL. 

First, twa kamona, we shall see. 
Second, (v)wa kamona, you will see. 
Third, va kamona, they will see. 

1 20. The negative forms of the future, so far as 
they occur, differ from those of the present only by 
the insertion of ka before the inflectional stem. The 
only ones that seem to be very much used are the 
second singular and plural in prohibitions : 

Ku kamona, thou shalt not see. 
Ko kamoni, ye shall not see. 

121. The forms of the imperative (second singu- 
lar and plural), are those of the indicative with the 
personal prefixes omitted, and, in the plural, the final 
a changed to i, e. g, mona, see thou ; moni, see ye 



54 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

122. The infinitive, as has been already pre- 
mised, is the inflectional stem with the infinitive 
sign oku, okumona, to see. 

123. The negative forms of the imperative are 
supplied by the indicative present and future, e.g. : 

SINGULAR. 

Kumona or i, do not see. 
Kukamona or i, thou shalt not see. 

PLURAL. 

Komoni, do not see. 
Kokamoni, ye shall not see. 

Sometimes the present forms are intensified, thus, 
kakumona, kakomona (or i). 

124. The infinitive is negatived as a noun (Sec- 
tion 94), e. g., hakumonako, not to see. 

125. The third person singular and plural of the 
verb takes the personal pronominal prefixes, as given 
in the examples under each tense, if its subject be a 

personal noun. (Classes 1 and 2.) If the subject 
of the verb is not persofial the prefix of the class to 
which it belongs is used instead of the personal pre- 
fix, and treated in precisely the same manner, e.g., 
instead of olongombe vatila, the oxen fled, we should 
substitute the prefix of Class 10 for the personal va, 
and say olongombe z/ztila, or, if past, viatila, neg- 
ative, kaviatili. 

126. As was remarked (Section 80), owing to 
the tendency among the Ovimbundu to personify 
both animals and inanimate objects, the personal 



ETYMOLOGY. 55 

prefix is often used where we should expect the 
general pronominal prefix, e. g, ocimbulu weya, for 
ocimbulu ceya. 

127. There are some nouns which, though in 
form not of the personal classes (1 and 2), yet 
denote persons, e.g. : 

Osoma, king, Class 9. 
Inakulu, queen, Class 5. 
Ina, mother, Class 5. 

These nouns designate title or office, etc., and are 
therefore not, strictly speaking, personal. All such 
nouns when subject of the verb are capable of a 
twofold construction. If the person be prominent 
in the thought of the speaker, he will probably use 
the personal prefix. If the person be not prominent, 
the prefix of the class to which the noun belongs 
will be used, e.g., osoma wiya (personal prefix), the 
king comes, if the person is thought of ; but osoma 
yia (prefix Class 9) if the title or rank is more 
especially in mind. 

128. The following table gives the conjugation 
in full of the verb used in the examples given under 
the explanation of the formation of the various 
tenses and moods. It has not been thought neces- 
sary to repeat the translation of the various parts of 
the verb in this table. * 



56 



UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



CONJUGATION OF THE VERB OKUFETA, TO PAY. 



INDICATIVE MOOD. 





Present. 


Perfect. 


Past Perfect. 


Future, 


ame 


ndifeta 


ndafeta 


ndafetele 


hafeta 


ove 


ofeta 


wafeta 


wafetele 


okafeta 


eye 


ofeta 


wafeta 


wafetele 


okafeta 


etu 


tufeta 


twafeta 


twafetele 


tukafeta 


ene 


vufeta 


(v)wafeta 


(v)wafetele 


vukafeta 


ovo 


vafeta 


vafeta 


vafetele 


vakafeta 




Present Neg. 


Perfect Neg. 


Past Perf. Neg. 


Future Neg. 


ame 


sifeta(i) 


safeta(i) 


safetele 


sifeti 


ove 


kufeta(i) 


kwafeta(i) 


kwafetele 


kukafeta(i) 


eye 


kafeta(i) 


kafeta(i) 


kafetele 


kakafeta(i) 


etu 


katufeta(i) 


katwafeta(i) 


katwafetele 


katukafeta(i) 


ene 


kofeta(i) 


kwafeta(i) 


kwafetele 


kokafeta(i) 


ovo 


kavafeta(i) 


kavafeta(i) 


kavafetele 


kavakafeta(i) 










Fut. Past Form. 


ame 








ndakafeta 


ove 








wakafeta 


eye 









wakafeta 


etu 








twakafeta 


ene 








(v)wakafeta 


ovo 








vakafeta 



ETYMOLOGY. 



57 



CONJUGATION OF THE VERB OKUFETA, TO PAY. 



IMPERATIVE MOOD. 


INFINITIVE MOOD. 


Present, 


Future. 


Present. 


Future. 


feta 
feti 


t 


okufeta 


okukafeta. 


Present Neg. 


Future Neg. 


Present Neg. 


Future Neg. 


kufeta(i) 
kofeti 


kukafeta 
kokafeti 


hakufetako 


hakukafetako 



58 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

129. In the perfect negative, the alternate final 
vowel i is written as in the present negative, but it is 
not as frequently used, if used at all. Indeed the 
forms of the perfect negative very rarely occur in 
ordinary conversation, the past perfect negative 
being used instead. 

In the future negative, the first singular is iden- 
tical with the present negative • the form sikaf eta 
does not seem to be used. 

130. Irregular verbs. Strictly irregular verbs, 
i. <?., those whose irregularities are not accounted for 
in Section 100, are very rare, and, with one or two 
exceptions, not of sufficient importance to demand 
special attention here. 

131. The verb okuli, not used in the infinitive, 
deserves brief notice. Its chief use is in the forma- 
tion of expletives with the directive adverbs ko, mo, 
po ; thus kuli, muni, pali (there is) ; kuli being used 
to designate more remote locality, pali near, and 
muni locality within something ■ (for change of 1 
to m in this form see Section 27.) The past tense 
sign is added to the directive when the expletive is 
used in the past tense. 

This verb is also used in several personal forms, 
e. g,, olipi, where is he? Kepo = kalipo (Section 
28), he is not here. 

132. The most irregular of all Umbundu verbs 
is okuti, to say, used in the infinitive as a final con- 
junction, that. The forms most commonly used are 
— Singular, first, siti ; second, hati ; third, hati. 



ETYMOLOGY. 59 

Plural, first, tuti ; third, vati ; hoti, second and third 
singular ; twati, first plural, (v)wati, second plural, 
are also heard. 

The irregularity lies wholly in the singular (the 
plural being only defective), and thus far has baffled 
all attempts at explanation. 

J. ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS, AND CONJUNCTIONS. 

133. Adverbs are not numerous ; their place is 
supplied (a) by adjectives and nouns used as ad- 
verbs ; (p) by stative verbs which have an adverbial 
force. 

134. Adverbs etymologically considered divide 
themselves into three classes : (a) primitive ad- 
verbs, those which were originally and still are 
adverbs, e.g., handi, yet, now; (p) derivative ad- 
verbs, composed of a preposition and its object, 
e. g. f konyima, at the back, behind; kilu, at the 
sky, above ; (c) directives, either prefixed to a word 
instead of a pronominal prefix, or suffixed as enclitic, 
e.g., ko, po, mo. 

135. For comparison of adverbs see Section 55, 
ss., Comparison of Adjectives. 

136. Prepositions are of two kinds, simple and 
compound. 

The simple prepositions are : (a) The directives, 
ko, to or from ; po, to or at ; mo (vo), in, at. (b) The 
conjunctives lo, with, by, etc. ; te, except, only, but. 

The compound prepositions are the derivative 
adverbs used as prepositions, e.g., konyima yange, 



60 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

at my back, i. e., behind me ; kilu liomesa, upon the 

table. 

137. Conjunctions. 

/ \ ^ 1 ,.- ( Coordinate, 
(a) Copulatives •< ' 

( Subordinate. 

The copulative coordinate conjunctions are : 
la, and, la-la, both and, la-le, and also (e.g., love 
lame, both you and I ; lamele, and I also) ; kwenda, 
besides, and yu, then, next in order, vo, also (wa- 
endavo, he went also). 

The subordinate copulatives are : 

Final, okuti, that. ' 

Conditional, nda, if, as. 

Temporal, eci, when ; te, until. 

Illative, oco, so then. 

Concessive, ndano, although, however. 

Causal, mekonda, because. 
(b) Disjunctive coordinate : pwai is the only dis- 
junctive conjunction as yet discovered. 



PART III. SYNTAX. 



A. GENERAL REMARKS. 

138. The combination of words into sentences is 
both natural and simple. The names of objects 
with their various attributes, acts, and states, are 
presented in the order of importance in the thought 
of the speaker, the hearer being left to a large 
degree to supply the relations sustained to one 
another by the various parts of the proposition. 

The pronominal prefixes and a few prepositions, 
etc., are the only visible indicators of the connection 
of the thought, of which the words of the sentence 
are the vehicle. 

139. As a rule, sentences are short and simple. 
Longer and more complex sentences, however, are 
not entirely wanting. 

140. There is, also, the usual variety of sen- 
tences ; declarative, interrogative, positive, negative, 
etc., with a tendency to a predominance of negative 
interrogatives. 

Thus, instead of saying " let us go," the Ovimbun- 
du say " shall we not go ? " 



62 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

141. The general order of arrangement is : First, 
the important word of the sentence. This is usually 
the grammatical subject of the proposition, but not 
always. It may be the predicate or some of its 
modifiers ; not infrequently it is a substantive with 
which the subject is in some way related, or by 
which it is modified \ or it may be a sort of general 
subject of the thought expressed, standing at the head 
of the proposition like the subject of an essay. 
Whatever part of the sentence this important word 
may be, it usually stands independently, i. <?., without 
grammatical relations to the rest of the sentence ; 
usually it is repeated in its proper place by some 
representative word. After this important word 
comes the grammatical subject, with its modifiers, 
followed by the predicate, with its modifiers. In 
case the subject is in the emphatic position, it is 
repeated by a demonstrative or personal pronoun. 

If the predicate is in the emphatic position, it is 
usually in the form of an expletive. 

B. THE SUBJECT OF THE PROPOSITION. 

142. The subject of the proposition may be : 

(a) A substantive (noun or separable pronoun). 

(b) An infinitive, with or without its object, i.e., 
an infinitive clause, (c) An interrogative or other 
adjective pronoun. 

143. The class of the subject, expressed or 
understood, determines the class of all words de- 
pending in any way upon the subject. 



SYNTAX. 63 

144. As a rule, the subject precedes the predi- 
cate, as stated in Section 141 ; but sometimes for 
emphasis or for the more euphonic arrangement of 
pronominal prefixes, it may follow, e.g., hena hasa- 
pula cangusapuile osoma, tomorrow I will tell what 
me told the king ; the normal order of the subordi- 
nate sentence would be, as in English, what the king 
told me. 

If the predicate is an expletive of location, kuli, 
pali, etc., the subject follows it, even though it (the 
predicate) may not occupy the emphatic position 
(Section 141), e.g., kofeka yene kuli omanu valua ? 
In your country, are there persons many ? 

145. The personal pronouns, as subject, are ex- 
pressed only when emphatic, e.g., ndi sapula olonda- 
ka viosoma, I tell the words of the king • but, 
anzendisapula. olondaka viosoma, I (not another) 
tell, etc. 

146. The demonstratives, as subject, refer to 
some one who has just been mentioned, or is in some 
way in the mind of the speaker and hearer. Some- 
times they simply repeat the subject (Section 141), 
e.g., u walinga nyi ? he (some one in sight or thought) 
is doing what ? 

147. The indefinite pronouns, as subject, also 
refer to some noun which is in the thought and with 
which they agree in form ; or they may refer to per- 
sons or things in general, and thus become real sub- 
stantives of Classes 1 and 2 if persons, 7 and 8 if 
general, e.g., wheti olosanje vitanu vimwe viyela 



64 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

vimwe vitekama, I have five chickens, some are 
white, some are black. Cimwe cakwatele osanje 
yange, something caught my chickens; or, if per- 
sonal, umwe wakwatele. 

148. The infinitive, as subject of the proposition, 
is treated as a noun of Class 15 ; at the same time, 
it retains its verbal properties, i. e., it may itself take 
an object or an adverbial modifier, and at the same 
time be construed as a noun of Class 15, e.g., okulia 
vakwetu hakuwako, to eat our fellows is not good. 

149. An interrogative as subject of the proposi- 
tion, is equivalent to a pronoun, and its attributes 
take the personal prefixes. Elie wapopia? who 
speaks ? 

Note. Elie is more frequently construed as predi- 
cate, even where we should use who, its equivalent, as 
subject. Thus, the Umbundu of the last example 
would more frequently be helie wapopia ? who is he 
who speaks ? This may be due to the ambiguity in 
the sentence, elie wapopia, as to whether elie is sub- 
ject or object. It may be either. 

150. The subject is modified : (a) By single 
words (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, interrogatives, 
and adverbs). (J?) By an infinitive with or without 
its object, (c) By a relative clause. 

151. The position of all modifiers is after the 
word modified, i. e., post positive, e. g. : 

Onjo yange, my house. 

Ulume wolondunge, a man of wits, /. e., a wise 
man. 



SYNTAX. 65 

152. A noun as modifier of the subject agrees 
with it in class, number, and person ; i. e., it takes the 
pronominal prefix of the class to which the subject 
belongs, e.g., ongombe yasoma, the ox of the king. 
Osoma here takes the pronominal prefiq of Class 9, 
which includes only singular nouns of the third per- 
son ; hence osoma is said to agree with the subject 
ongombe in class, number, and person. 

(Note. See Section 44 for the a which is affixed 
to the pronominal prefix in the example.) 

153. When the subject is modified by a noun in 
apposition, the latter does not take the pronominal 
prefix. 

154. A noun in attributive agreement with the 
subject as above described, Section 152, expresses 
the relations usually denoted in English by the pos- 
sessive case and the prepositions of, to, and for (the 
genitive and dative of the Greek) : 

(a) Possession, onjo yasoma, the house of the 
king. Sometimes in close connection the noun 
which would stand regularly in the possessive, as 
osoma above, is placed in the emphatic position at 
the head of the sentence, and its prefix pronoun is 
the object of the verb. 

Thus, ombwa waitetavo enguni, the dog he cut it 
also the throat == he cut the dog's throat also. 

{b) Specification : nearly equivalent to an apposi- 
tive ; onanga yombini, cloth of ombini ; just as we 
say the city of New York. 



66 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

(V) Material : that of which anything consists ; 
onjo yonata, a house of mud. 

(d) Description or characteristic : ulume wolon- 
dunge, a man of wits, i. e., a wise man. 

(e) The subject or object of an action expressed 
by a noun. Ocisola casuku, love to God. Ocisola 
cinae, the love of his mother, i. e., her love for him. 

(f) That which is to or for one, /. e., advantage 
or disadvantage : sikwete upange wakai, I have no 
work for the women. 

155. The pronouns as representatives of the noun 
are, of course, subject to the same construction with 
it as modifiers of the subject. 

156. The possessives are often equivalent to the 
relative possessive, whose ; kuli ulume onduko yae, 
etc., there is a man whose name, etc. 

157. The demonstratives, besides their regular 
use, to make the subject more definite, have also a 
locative force ; e. g., osanje yoyo, literally that chicken, 
but also the chicken there. 

158. The simple adjective modifying the subject, 
i. e., the attributive adjective, is rare, its place being 
supplied (a) by nouns (1) as modifiers of the subject 
(see Section 154) ; (2) in their signification ; omeke, 
blind man; (b) by adverbs (Section 161). 

159. The attributive adjective agrees with its 
noun in class and number (see Section 152), uti 
usovi, a tall tree. 

160. Interrogatives, as modifiers of the subject, 



SYNTAX. 67 

are treated precisely as adjectives ; onjo yipi ? which 
house ? 

161. Any adverb may modify the subject by 
taking its pronominal prefix. Such adverbs are 
then equivalent to adjectives or attributive nouns ; 
epungu liakalie, corn of now, i.e., new corn recently 
ripe. 

162. The infinitive being, as we have seen, equiva- 
lent to a noun of Class 15, is of course included in 
all that has been said (Section 154) of nouns as 
modifiers of the subject. 

163. In many instances the infinitive as modifier 
of the subject is equivalent to a final clause or sub- 
ordinate sentence, denoting purpose, depending 
upon the predicate : omunga wokusapula, a messen- 
ger of telling, i. e., sent for the purpose of telling. 

164. A relative clause modifying the subject, 
expresses some additional thought with reference to 
it, to make it more definite. The relative which 
introduces the modifying clause is, as we have seen, 
the pronominal prefix. Sometimes this is preceded 
by the demonstrative. Vava kavatava okuambata, 
those who do not accept to carry. Literally those 
they do not, etc. Osanje walanda hena yafa, the 
chicken (which) you bought yesterday died, is an 
illustration of the simple use of the relative clause 
modifying the subject. 



68 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 



C. COPULA. 

165. Having discussed the subject and its modi- 
fiers, we next look most naturally for a copula, or 
some connecting link between the subject and predi- 
cate. This we shall find in the pronominal pre- 
fixes, personal and general, which indicate the agree- 
ment of the predicate (verb, adjective 1 , or substantive) 
with the subject: 

Ulume waenda kimbo, the man went home. 
Here the pronominal prefix personal (0 changed to 
w before a vowel) is the connecting link between 
subject and predicate. 

166. A predicate noun is sometimes used without 
any such connecting prefix, but often when this seems 
to be the case, the prefix is lost in the initial vowel 
of the noun, e. g., eye osoma, he is king. Here the 
o, third singular, probably is not omitted, but coal- 
esces with the initial o of the noun. It seems to be 
a general rule that personal predicate nouns take a 
pronominal prefix ; but this prefix, in the second and 
third persons, being identical with the demonstrative 
o of the substantive preformative, does not appear, 
as in the case above ; when the subject is of the first 
person, or, in a negative sentence, the personal pre- 
fix always appears, e.g., ndingende, I am a traveler; 
the ndi of the first person taking the place of the 
demonstrative o : 

Amendisoma, I am king. 
Singendeko, I am not a traveler. 



SYNTAX. 69 

167. Sometimes the expletive ha is used as 
copula with a predicate noun, especially when the 
subject is not expressed : hokas wange, she is my 
wife. 

168. Sometimes, also, the directive prefixes, ko, 
po, mo, take the place of the pronominal prefixes, 
especially with predicate adjectives not in agree- 
ment with a particular substantive, e.g., kwapwa, all 
gone ; or, if special attention is called to the locality 
of the subject, ovava mwapwa, the water (in a 
vessel) is all gone. In this instance, if no special 
attention were called to the locality of the water, 
the regular pronominal prefix of Class 6 would be 
used : ovava (v)apwa ; the v generally dropping. Ci, 
regularly the pronominal prefix of Class 7, is often 
used when the subject is not particularly in mind, 
and no reference is made to locality : 

Cilema, this is heavy. 
If, however, diminution is to be expressed the 
diminutive prefix is used, e.g., katiu, small. 

D. THE PREDICATE. 

169. The predicate of the proposition may be a 
substantive, an adjective, or adjective pronoun, and 
a verb. 

170. The predicate agrees with the subject in 
class, number, and person, i. e., takes the pronominal 
prefix of that class of nouns to which the subject 
belongs (see Division C, Sections 165-168). 

171. The noun as predicate occurs most fre- 



70 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

quently with the expletive ha; the subject then may 
be either expressed or understood. Predicate nouns 
are not infrequent, however, in the regular construc- 
tion with the pronominal prefixes. 

172. Predicate adjectives are not frequent. We 
find instead (a) stative verbs, i. e., verbs which ex- 
press a quality or state ; (p) nouns (1) as object of 
the verb, e.g., okwete owesi, you have laziness, i.e., 
you are lazy, (2), used absolutely (Section 213), e.g., 
ombamdi, cold = it is cold. 

The possessive adjective pronouns, especially the 
personals, occur frequently as predicate ; also the 
interrogative elie which, however, usually takes the 
expletive ha instead of the pronominal prefix (see 
Section 149, Note) : 

Ceci cange, this is mine. 
U helie, he who is he ? 

173. With reference to the verb of the predicate, 
several things require special notice. 

(a) The modifications of the verbal idea corre- 
sponding to the derivative forms of the verb : 

(1) The simple form, of course, expresses the 
simple verbal idea, whether it be an act or state, e.g., 
okufeta, to pay. 

(2) The causative form denotes primarily, causa- 
tion : okumonisa, to cause to see, from okumona, to 
see ; but secondarily, also, association, assistance, 
etc. Okukwatisa, to help, i. e., to grasp with, from 
okukwata, to grasp. 

(3) The passive form is rarely used, and when it 



SYNTAX. 7 1 

occurs, seldom retains the primary signification of a 
passive voice, i. <?., the being acted upon : okulokiwa, 
to leak (of thatch) from okuloka, to fall (of rain). 

(4) The reflexive form takes the place of the 
reflexive and reciprocal pronouns : okuliveta, to 
strike one's self, or each other from okuveta, to strike, 
to beat. 

(5) The relative forms express acts or states, 
more or less closely related to the simple verbal 
idea, e.g., okukwatela, to grasp at from okukwata, to 
grasp ; okutapula, to paddle (a boat) from okutapa, to 
get water. Sometimes the meaning of the derivative 
(relative) form is the reverse of the simple : okuyi- 
kula, to open from okuyika, to shut. Sometimes, too, 
all trace of connection between the meaning of the 
relative form and the simple is lost. 

(6) The reduplicate form denotes action or states 
as habitual, intensive, continuous, etc. : okuvetaveta, 
to strike often or habitually, to keep striking. 

174. There is great latitude in the use of all 
these forms. The above are the primary significa- 
tions ; variations therefrom are best learned from 
the vocabulary. 

175. Of course the meaning of the simple form 
decides how many modifications can be made, e.g., 
stative verbs can take no passive or reflexive forms. 
Several of the forms may combine in the same 
verb, as the reflexive and causative : okulivetisa, to 
cause to beat one's self. 

176. (p) Moods. As will be seen from the con- 



72 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

jugation of the verb already given, there are but 
three moods, indicative, imperative, and the infini- 
tive. 

177. The indicative is the mood used in all 
classes of sentences, both independent and subor- 
dinate. 

178. The imperative is used instead of the in- 
dicative in commands, requests, etc. Prohibitions, 
negative commands, employ the indicative. 

179. The infinitive is a verbal noun, as in all 
languages. As noun, it has been considered under 
the subject and its modifiers ; as a verb, it will be 
considered under subordinate clauses and sentences. 

180. (/) Tenses. The three grand divisions of 
time, present, past, and future, are clearly distin- 
guished in the use as well as in the forms of the 
Umbundu verb • but the finer distinctions of time 
are very indefinite, and are largely made by means 
of temporal particles, which are no part of the verb. 

181. As has been stated in the general remarks 
on the nature of the Umbundu verb, the derivative 
forms of the verb supply the place of secondary 
tenses to a great degree, e. g., the reduplicate form 
is precisely equivalent to an imperfect tense. 

182. The following general rules for the three 
primary and one secondary tense of the Umbundu 
verb seem to be in harmony with the usage of daily 
conversation. 

183. The present tense denotes, primarily, time 
contemporaneous with the time of speaking, i. e., it 



SYNTAX. 73 

views the verbal idea as incomplete ; hence it is used 
in the expression of: 

(a) Continuous or progressive action : ndikeve- 
lela endo, I am waiting for the caravan ; olila, he is 
crying, etc. . 

(b) Indefinite action or state, i. e., without refer- 
ence to beginning or continuation ; what is now true, 
no matter what was true yesterday or will be true to- 
morrow : 

Amendisoma, I am king. 

Amendiviala kofeka yange, I rule in my 
country. 

(c) General truths and characteristics, i. e., what 
is true always and everywhere : Ocimunu cisoka- 
soka okuiva, a thief intends to steal, L e., that is his 
character or purpose. 

(d) A desire or exhortation : katutangi, shall we 
not read ? = let us read ; twenda, let us go. (The 
negative interrogative is more frequent than the 
positive here.) 

184. The primary idea of the perfect tense is 
time prior to the time of speaking, i. e., it sets forth 
the verbal idea as complete, and is therefore used in 
expressing : 

(a) Simple past facts : ndakufeta, I have paid 
you. This is the narrator's perfect. 

(p) Habitual past action, without reference to 
what is true at the time of speaking : walia kokulia 
kwange = he has been in the habit of eating my food 



74 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

(without implying whether he is or is not now doing 
so), given as a reason for present action. 

(c) Past action just completed at the time of 
speaking, or perhaps more properly, complete action 
simultaneous with the time of speaking. This, it 
will be seen, differs from the present only in the 
completeness or incompleteness of the action. In 
translating, our present indefinite comes nearest the 
idea : wayola, he laughs ; literally has laughed, i. <?., 
the act, though simultaneous with the time of speak- 
ing, is viewed as complete, hence the perfect. 

Oyola, he is laughing, differs only in that the act is 
here viewed as incomplete, hence the present is used. 

Sometimes the fact the speaker has in mind as 
complete, and which he so expresses, in reality, still 
lies in the future. 

id) Facts and attributes, or characteristics which 
have existed heretofore, and still exist : walunguka, 
he is sharp, not only in a specific instance, but 
always (it is his disposition). 

185. The past perfect is used to express : 

(a) Action completed in the past, also specific past 
action ; very nearly akin to the narrator's perfect, be- 
ing a little more remote in time : ndasokele okuenda, 
I thought to go. 

(b) Action completed before some other past 
action, equivalent to our pluperfect, and used chiefly 
in subordinate sentences depending on a verb in a 
past tense : eci ndomwine ndayolela, when I had 
seen him, I rejoiced. 



SYNTAX. 75 

(c) In negative sentences in place of the perfect, 
i. e., corresponding to the positive perfect, especially 
of Class (d). 

Watema, he is an angry man ; katemene denies 
the statement, using the past perfect form instead of 
the perfect. 

1 86. The enclitic adverb ale, suffixed to a past 
tense (see Section 118) gives an added idea of re- 
moteness, or makes the time more definitely pluper- 
fect, e.g., ndakufetele^/^, I paid you long ago, or, 
definitely, before something else occurred. This 
form is often well translated by the adverbs already, 
ever, etc., e.g., wayeveleale, have you ever heard? 

187. Besides futurity, the future denotes purpose : 
hacilinga hena states, not only the fact that I will do 
this tomorrow, but the purpose to do it. (Note. 
Ha = ndika, Section in.) 

In a dependent sentence, the future is equivalent 
to a potential mood : ndakatuka okuenda ndakava- 
tundisa, I arose to go, that I might expel them ; 
literally, I will expel them (a past purpose). 

188. Modifiers of the predicate. The predicate 
noun is subject to the same modifiers as the subject 
noun. (See Section 154.) 

189. An adjective, whether predicate or attribu- 
tive, may be modified by an adverb of quality, quan- 
tity, intensity, etc. 

190. The verb predicate may be modified (a) by 
a single word (adverb, noun, or pronoun) ; (b) by 
adverbial phrases (prepositions with their objects) ; 



j6 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

(c) by infinitive clauses; (d) by subordinate sen- 
tences. 

191. Adverbs as modifiers of the predicate verb, 
are not inflected. They express the usual circum- 
stances of time, place, cause, manner, etc. 

Interrogatives as modifiers of the predicate verb, 
are adverbs, and need no special treatment. 

192. Nouns frequently modify the predicate verb 
as adverbs ; but the chief use of the noun or pro- 
noun (separable or prefix) as modifiers of the verb 
is as object 

193. The normal position of the object is after 
the verb, but often for emphasis it precedes. When 
it stands in the emphatic position at the head of the 
sentence, it is often repeated with the verb by its 
prefix pronoun. 

194. The prefix pronoun as object refers to some 
noun in the sentence, either expressed or understood, 
and always stands prefixed to the inflectional stem 
of the verb, as will have been seen in the examples 
already given. 

195. The personal pronouns are expressed as 
objects only when emphatic, otherwise they are rep- 
resented by their personal prefixes (see Section 69) : 
wakufeta, he has paid you ; wafeta ove, he has paid 
you. Sometimes both the personal and the prefix 
are used, thus : ove wakufeta, as for you, he has paid 
you. 

196. Nouns and separable pronouns do not 
occur as indirect objects of the verb, but depend 



SYNTAX. J? 

instead upon the subject (see Section 154); but pre- 
fix pronouns, both personal and general, occupy the 
same position, and are in the same grammatical 
agreement, whether they are direct or indirect object 
of the verb : twawavela olonyimi vivali, we him gave 
blankets two ; we gave him two blankets. W = o 
before a vowel. 

197. In prepositional phrases, ko is used with 
verbs of motion to or from a place, e.g., waenda 
kimbo, he went to the village ; watunda kofeka yaco, 
he came from that country ; po is nearly analogous 
to ko, perhaps used more frequently to express 
motion towards, but it also denotes motion from. 
Mo or vo or wo, is used with verbs of rest, to denote 
locality in a place : wakala monjo, he stays in the 
house ; vimbo, at home \ wolui, in the brook. Lo 
expresses agency, means, manner, cause, etc. ; that 
by, with, in, during, because of which something is, 
or is done : watila lusumba, he fled with fear, i. e., 
because of fear. Weya luteke, he came with night, 
i.e., at night. Te as preposition {except or but) 
denotes that which is exceptional, of which alone 
something is affirmed or denied. 

198. Inasmuch as compound prepositions are 
always resolvable into a simple preposition and its 
object, they present no peculiarities of construction. 

The word which is translated as object of the 
preposition in English is a modifier (usually a pos- 
sessive pronoun, but not always) of the noun which 
is compounded with the preposition, and is its real 



78 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

object, e. g., before me, kovasu vange = ko to, ovasu 
the eyes, vange, of me, i.e., to my eyes. Konyi- 
ma yange, at my back = behind me. 

199. An infinitive modifies the predicate verb : 
(a) by completing its meaning : wasoka okuloya, he 
thinks to shoot ; (b) as a participle present or past, 
okupitila tutunga, when we arrive, we will build ; 
okupitila twatungile, having arrived we built ; (/) by 
denoting a purpose, ngenda okukalete, I go to see, 
equivalent to a final dependent sentence. 

200. Subordinate sentences are of the following 
varieties : final, objective, conditional, temporal, 
causal, concessive. 

201. Final sentences, modifying the predicate 
verb, denote purpose. They have no connective 
word to show their dependence upon the verb of the 
principal sentence ; the context shows the con- 
nection. 

202. The indicative present and future are used 
in final sentences, the future is the more frequent : 
ngenda hatala, I go, I will see, i. e., I go to see. 

When the verb of the principal sentence is in the 
past, the past form of the future is employed in the 
dependent sentence, and is equivalent to our poten- 
tial mood : ndaenda ndakatala, I went to see, i, e., 
that I might see. 

203. Objective dependent sentences are intro- 
duced by the verb to say, okuti ; in the infinitive, 
when simply the object of the verb, in one of the 
personal forms given, Section 132, when the objec- 



SYNTAX. 79 

tive sentence is a quotation : wakuniha okuti mon- 
jila mukasi ovita = he knew that (literally saying) 
in the way there are wars. If the objective sentence 
above were a quotation, the only change would be in 
the connective, okuti, one of the personal forms, hati 
or vati would be substituted * all that follows would 
remain unchanged; the mood and tense of the 
objective dependent sentence being just what they 
would be were the same sentence independent. (The 
connective is sometimes omitted.) 

204. Conditional sentences are introduced by 
nda (if, as if) ndoveta tutila = if he beats, we 
flee. 

205. The indicative is the mood of conditional, 
as of all other forms of sentences. The tense of 
the conditional sentence is present or future if the 
principal verb is present, and past if the tense of the 
principal verb is past. 

206. When the condition is contrary to fact, the 
nda is repeated with the conclusion : ndawavetele 
ndatwatila, if he had beaten, we would flee. 

207. Sometimes the conclusion is omitted, in 
which case the conditional sentence is equivalent to 
a mild imperative : ndotale, if you look, z. <?., will you 
look? Here the verb takes the alternate final 
vowel e or i. 

208. Sometimes the condition is elliptical ; e. g., 
casosa ndosukini, this is sweet as sugar, i. e. y sweet as 
if it were sugar. 

209. Temporal dependent sentences are intro- 



SO UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

duced by conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs of 
time, eci, eteke, etc. 

210. The law of the sequence of tenses is the 
same in temporal as in conditional sentences: eteke 
twapitila twatungile, when (literally the day) we 
arrived, we built; eci tupitila tukatunga, when we 
arrive, we will build. 

As has been stated before, the infinitive is often 
used in a participial clause denoting time, and is 
then equivalent to a temporal dependent sentence. 

211. Concessive sentences are introduced by 
ndafio : tulia ndafio cilula, we eat it, even if it is bitter. 
Here, also, the sequence of tenses is the same as in 
conditional sentences. 

212. Causal sentences are introduced by me- 
konda. The verb of the causal sentence may either 
be in the indicative mood, or in the infinitive * in 
the former case, it has the regular personal construc- 
tion, in the latter it is disposed of as a noun with a 
compound preposition : wapita kovasu luteke me- 
konda kayongola okupita lutanya, he went ahead at 
night, because he did not wish to go in the heat of 
day ; ndapitila uteke likwavo mekonda liokupitisa 
ovimbulu, I arrived the next night, because of driving 
the donkeys. 

E. WORDS USED ABSOLUTELY. 

213. Words without grammatical relations to the 
rest of the sentence, or only loosely related, are 
very frequent. 



SYNTAX. 51 

(a) The infinitive absolute is of frequent occur- 
rence, (i) In the way of intensification or empha- 
sis ; (2) equivalent to a clause: okutanga, shall I 
read ? or, let us read. Hakutungako = am I not 
sewing ? 

{b) Nouns or pronouns may occur either abso- 
lutely absolute, or loosely connected with the other 
parts of the proposition. 

All names and words of address are examples of the 
former, see also Section 172. The emphatic word 
of the sentence usually stands in the latter relation : 
osoma eye wasoka okuenda, the king, he thought to 
go = as for the king, etc. U sekulu waendale hena, 
as for him, the sekulu, he went yesterday. It will 
be seen that this usus loquendi corresponds precisely 
to that of uneducated people who have not been 
hampered in the use of their mother tongue by 
"grammatical rules." "John, he went to town." 

We sometimes even hear such expressions as this : 
ame omonange walila, I, my child cries. (See Sec- 
tion 141.) 

F. NUMERALS. 

214. The syntax of numerals requires a special 
word in conclusion. We have seen that the units 
are adjectives, partly inflected, partly uninflected : 
the tens nouns of Classes 5 and 6 ; the hundreds 
nouns of Classes 7 and 8 \ and the thousands nouns 
of Classes 9 and 10. We have seen how these are 



82 UMBUNDU GRAMMAR. 

combined abstractly; we have now to apply these 
numbers to objects. 

215. Below ten, the numeral is construed as an 
adjective depending upon the object numbered. 
1-5 take the pronominal prefix of the noun num- 
bered. 6-9 generally do not ; e. g, olongombe vivali, 
two oxen (literally oxen two), but olongombe epandu, 
six oxen — the pronominal prefix being omitted. 

Note. In counting, the custom is to count ten, 
and then begin again and count ten more, and so on, 
stating every time ten is reached, how many tens 
have been counted. When one hundred is reached, 
the same process is repeated until one hundred is 
reached again, when the number of hundreds is 
stated, and so on. 

216. The tens and hundreds and thousands are 
modified by the objects numbered as attributive 
nouns, e.g., ekwi liolongombe, ten of oxen; ocita 
colongombe, one hundred of oxen. 

217. Numbers between tens are added by repeat- 
ing the object numbered : ekwi liolongombe kolon- 
gombe vitanu, ten of oxen, and oxen five, i. e., fifteen 
oxen. 

218. Sometimes in connected discourse, and 
when the thought is directed to the object rather than 
to the number thereof, the object stands first, and 
the numerical combination after it, e.g., wangavela 
olongombe ekwi latanu, he gave me oxen ten and 
five. In this case, the numerical combination seems 
to be regarded as a compound substantive in apposi- 



SYNTAX. 83 

tion with the object numbered. Sometimes the 
second noun numbered drops out : ekwi liasaela 
latanu, ten of eggs and five. 

When the unit is one, the noun stands and the 
numeral drops : ekwi liasaela kesaela, ten of eggs, 
and an egg. 



